Let’s say an earthquake hits, right now, and hits hard. Now look around you. Where are you at this moment?
If there was an actual earthquake taking place; where would be the safest place to duck and cover? Are you around glass? Are you around anything that can fall on you or drop from the ceiling? Is there anything in the vicinity that could catch fire? Do you have a safe place to go to? Do you have a way to contact your loved ones? Where would you meet up your family? These are questions you should always know the answer to at any given point.
Of course no one knows when an earthquake will happen, let alone know how they would react in that situation. For that reason it’s always a good idea to practice and prepare for the scenario.
Because of this, we here at The Skyline View give a round of applause to our campus for having initiated the mandatory earthquake drill on Thursday of October 15th. Many roll their eyes at the thought of an earthquake drill, something that every student has gone through since pre-school, still we believe in the simple yet very true saying “better safe then sorry”.
Especially right now with the anniversary of the 1989 earthquake people are starting to be more cautious. Anyone who was around during The Loma Prieta earthquake of ’89 knows exactly what were talking about. It’s been a little over 20 years since that day, and most students were either too young to remember or not even born yet.
Its not that we wish for everyone to be in constant fear but it’s always a good idea to be on the alert. We’re located near the coast and our campus looks over the San Andreas Fault, so one never knows just what will happen.
But more importantly, what should mostly emphasize is that some of these disasters can and have happened here at school, the one place you’d expect to be safe when any disaster occurs, both natural and unnatural. It’s therefore important that you are constantly prepared and know exactly how to handle the situation.
Skyline is no stranger to dealing with disasters on campus; needless to say we’ve had a crazy semester. Skyline might not need to worry about earthquakes since the original design of the school was built in preparation of “the great earthquake” by reinforcing concrete slabs bolted together with steel, but that doesn’t mean were completely safe.
We’ve seen it all from heavy rain knocking out power to all of campus on October 13th to an active shooter on our parking lots on September 2nd, its been shown time and time again that at any given moment the peace and tranquility that surrounds us can come crashing down all around us. When it comes right down to it its up to you to make sure you can handle the situation, which is why it’s always important to have a plan for situations like that instead of finding yourself unprepared.