BEVERLY HILLS—The city of Beverly Hills is preparing for its annual “Shakeout” earthquake drill on Thursday, October 19 at 10:19 a.m.

According to a press release, Beverly Hills joins the State of California, the County and City of Los Angeles, and the Beverly Hills Unified School District in participating in the Great Shakeout drill where all participants including city staff will stop what they are doing and react as if an earthquake has occurred: DROP to the ground, take COVER under something sturdy, and HOLD on.

Individuals visiting city buildings during the drill will be directed to take the same action. The drill is expected to last approximately two minutes and customer service to the public will be disrupted for a short amount of time. Key city staff will participate in an exercise that will focus on disaster-time roles and responsibilities.

Recent earthquakes in Mexico and other places across the globe have resulted in the importance of preparedness. Beverly Hill is urging all residents and businesses to become better prepared for major earthquakes by participating in the ShakeOut drill. California is known as a high risk earthquake region. By preparing now, when an earthquake strikes residents will know the correct action to take.

Information on how to prepare and participate with Beverly Hills and others in the Great Shakeout can be found at www.shakeout.org.