Although our college is not officially participating in the ShakeOut, I informed my Physical Geography class this morning of the drill coming at 10:15 am. We watched a portion of the "Raging Planet" video from the Discovery Channel on earthquakes, including scenes from the 1989 Loma Prieta quake. "Drop, cover, and hold on" is about all one can do in a second-floor classroom until the shaking and falling of debris stops. We've discussed in class the "Ring of Fire" and plate boundaries around the Pacific Basin. Information and understanding are the keys to preparedness!

Earlier in the week, the class looked at the USGS website listing earthquakes and used Google Earth to look at the epicenter of the 3.7 magnitude earthquake that occurred on October 13 near Sunol, CA.