2014 is the fourth year of The Great British Columbia ShakeOut, a drill designed to educate the public about how to protect themselves during a large earthquake, and how to get prepared. It will be the largest earthquake drill to ever take place in Canada. The first ShakeOut drill was held on January 26, 2011, the anniversary of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in the Cascadia subduction zone. After the first British Columbia ShakeOut drill in early 2011, its organizers consulted with School Districts, the Ministry of Education, and emergency management stakeholders from across the province and decided to align the Great BC ShakeOut with ShakeOut drills in western North America in October, on an annual basis beginning in 2011.