Central Coast agencies take part in California’s Great ShakeOut earthquake drill
CENTRAL COAST, Calif. – Several agencies up and down the Central Coast participated in California's Great ShakeOut earthquake drill on Thursday morning.
In Santa Barbara County, the Montecito Emergency Response and Recovery Action Group (MERRAG) held a drill at Montecito Fire Station 91 that simulated a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, according to Montecito Fire spokeswoman Christina Favuzzi.
The simulation caused a mock complete power and communication failure across Montecito and five MERRAG team members worked to test the emergency radio communication system, which includes over 40 designated radio carriers throughout the town at local schools, hotels, churches, and other locations.
MERRAG's ShakeOut drill has been an annual exercise in Montecito for over 25 years, and those interested in volunteering can call 805-969-7762 and ask to speak to administrative assistant Joyce Reed.
Cal State University Channel Islands (CSUCI) in Ventura County also hosted a Great ShakeOut earthquake exercise on Thursday morning.
In addition to the annual earthquake drill, the university worked with seven county agencies to pair the ShakeOut with a shelter express exercise, which was the first one ever conducted in Ventura County, according to university officials.
CSUCI was also the first CSU in the state to conduct a shelter express exercise with community partners because the campus has been identified as a shelter express location for the county. So, if disaster strikes, a specific parking lot on campus can act as a temporary shelter location, according to officials.
Students acted as mock evacuees so the county and campus could practice registering them in the temporary shelter, as well as bringing them food, water, a place to sleep, and medical aid.
