Preparation drills for earthquakes

Robert W. Mackay takes cover under a shopping cart inside a Target store. Leslie Gordon of the USGS in Menlo Park was at the Northridge store Thursday during the ShakeOut, a series of simultaneous earthquake drills throughout California. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times / October 20, 2011)

Given the failure of many people (including me) to react "properly" in the face of earthquakes, given the recent experience of a quake in the Mid-Atlantic centered in Louisa, Virginia, we need to look to California and other places where quakes are a regular occurrence, for better guidance.

See "At schools, stores and hospitals, Californians prepare for quake: ShakeOut drills across California help people prepare for an earthqua" from the Los Angeles Times.