Californians prepare for big shaker Drop, cover and hold on!

Byline: Dana Bartholomew, Staff Writer

That was the safety mantra at 10:15 a.m. Thursday for nearly 7 million Californians who joined what was billed as the world's largest earthquake drill.

Across Los Angeles County, 2.6 million schoolchildren, office workers and others dropped to the floor, took cover under their desks and held on until the imaginary shaking stopped.

During the Great California ShakeOut drill, hospitals, fire departments and earthquake centers staged more elaborate simulations with search-and-rescue missions and triage of victims injured during the mock quake.

"It was excellent," said Lance Webster, spokesman for the Earthquake Country Alliance, sponsor of the drill. "It's one more for getting California ready for a major quake.

"The San Andreas fault is 150 years overdue for 'The Big One' - which would be 50 times bigger than the Northridge Earthquake. It could happen any day."

The ShakeOut event included 6.7 million participants from schools, businesses and agencies that had pledged to take part across the Golden State.

It follows last year's inaugural ShakeOut in Southern California, when millions prepared for a hypothetical magnitude-7.8 temblor predicted to spark 1,600 fires, damage 300,000 buildings and cause $213 billion in economic losses - after killing 1,800 residents and injuring tens of thousands more.

The point of such widespread drills: that everyone know what to do during a cataclysmic quake.

Organizers want to drill into the minds of Californians to "drop, cover and hold on," while dispelling myths by warning residents not to stand in doorways or run outside for safety.

In Castaic on Thursday, Los Angeles County firefighters practiced a seven-hour urban search-and-rescue exercise.

"These are the specialists," said fire Inspector Matt Leveque. "When there's an earthquake, these are the guys you want to have.

"Call them the cavalry, ready to do battle."

At Caltech, students and faculty dove for the desks while seismologists practiced getting critical data to the governor and emergency responders while on-campus teams checked classroom injuries and for radiation and chemical spills.

"It went terrific," said Margaret Vinci, manager for earthquake programs for the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

The U.S. Geological Survey has forecast a 46 percent chance of a magnitude-7.5 or greater quake in the next 30 years - probably in Southern California.

The last shaker to really rock the Southland was the 1994 Northridge disaster, which caused 72 deaths, injured thousands and caused $25 billion in damage to the Los Angeles region.

The ShakeOut drill is hosted by the Earthquake Country Alliance that includes the USGS, state Emergency Management Agency and American Red Cross.

For information, go to www.shakeout.org

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4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Top, L.A. County Fire Department K-9 Search and Rescue firefighter Gary Durian, right, and his dog, Baxter, search a collapsed structure to find a trapped "victim." Baxter, above, pokes his head out after searching in a pipe.

(3 -- color) Rescue member Pete Ramirez uses a saw to cut through a slab of concrete.

(4 -- color) "Victim" Matt Palacios is put onto a gurney during Thursday's drill.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer