The Great Shakeout

Sponsored by a slew of institutions and government agencies, Great Shakeout earthquake drills will be held in a large number of states today - Thursday, October 18th, 2012.  As described by organizers, the effort is designed to, "help people in homes, schools, and organizations improve preparedness and practice how to be safe during earthquakes."  As such, the event website provides a significant amount of information that can be used by, "individuals, businesses, schools, faith-based organizations, community groups, government agencies, and others to participate in the ShakeOut, to get prepared for earthquakes, and to share what you're doing with others so they can do the same."  For more information, use the links below:

Great Shakeout Earthquake Drills (Website)

Workplace Preparedness and The Great ShakeOut Tomorrow (FEMA Blog)

Comment: Preparedness education is always a good thing, so congratulations go out to the organizers of this effort to promote earthquake planning and awareness for communities at risk.  However, that being said, there appears to be one thing oddly missing from a program co-sponsored by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) - mention of the extensive online resources and earthquake risk maps available from the USGS (example above).  Admittedly, I might have missed them in the wealth of links provided, but just in case I didn't, here are some services that could go a long way to helping Great Shakeout participants better visualize and understand risks and ongoing events worldwide:

USGS Earthquake Resources and Worldwide Real-time Map

USGS Seismic Hazard Maps and Information