The School Shakeout Preparedness Drill is an annual event which is organized by GeoHazards International (GHI) and GeoHazards Society (GHS) to enhance earthquake preparedness in schools located in high earthquake risk zones. It also marks the anniversary of the great Kangra earthquake which killed more than 19,000 people in 1905. It was started off in 2009 in collaboration with the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, and its reach has been growing ever since. During its inception in 2009, it was set to target mainly Tibetan schools in North and North-eastern India, which eventually was extended to involve large numbers lot of other schools as well over the years.
The students participating in these Preparedness drills have been constantly on the rise with 7500 students taking part in 2009, which rose to 28,410 in 2012. Keeping the tradition alive and making it stronger with each passing year, the School Shakeout Preparedness Drill was conducted successfully this year as well at 11:00 am on April 4. With enthusiastic schools from across the country taking part, this turned out to be a mega event, one of its kinds in India, to have happened across so many schools on the same day.
On the whole, schools from 10 states took part in the drill with around 50, 893 students practicing the Drop Cover Hold on and making a safe evacuation from 165 schools. The international recognition of this event also grew, with one school each from Myanmar and Bhutan taking part in the shakeout drill.
GHS is thankful to all stakeholders from state government, organisations and schools for participating in the drill.