Great ShakeOut Rocks California

Millions of Southern Californians as well as residents across the state "dropped, covered and held on" Thursday morning as part of the annual Great ShakeOut, an earthquake preparedness drill held to ensure people are ready for the " big one."

The drill took place at 10:18 a.m. and was meant to simulate a magnitude 7.8 or larger San Andreas fault quake.

Almost 2.9 million people in LA County registered to participate in the fifth annual event, and nearly 9.3 million people registered statewide, according to the Great ShakeOut website.

At 10:18 a.m., all participants were directed to "drop" to the floor, take "cover" under a sturdy surface and "hold" there for 60 seconds, as they would during a real earthquake. 

Participants in the Great ShakeOut included government workers and students.

At USC,  the drill was held throughout the university with all staff, students, and faculty participating.

In an e-mail from Trojans Alert, all university participants were told to tune to KNX 1070 AM Radio for a live broadcast of the drill.

Following the drill, university participants were asked to review earthquake response procedures and preparedness measures as well as to look over USC's  emergency preparation website.

Participants statewide were also directed to envision during the drill what would be happening in the space around them if a major earthquake was happening. They were asked to imagine what objects might be falling, what damage might be done and also to look for an area to escape through.

Under the quake scenario, the "big one" would be a tectonic shift that would produce waves of movement over hundreds of miles over four minutes.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, about 2,000 people would die and tens of thousands would be injured. On top of that, there would be billions of dollars in damage from the earthquake, which is predicted to be 50 times the intensity of the Jan. 1994 Northridge earthquake.

After the quake, hundreds of aftershocks are predicted to follow and a handful of them are expected to be as big as the original earthquake, according to the USGS.

Local and state officials have told Californians to be ready to be self-sufficient for 72 hours after an earthquake or other natural disaster occurs. This includes having fully stocked first-aid kits, medications, food and enough water for each person in a household to drink one gallon per day for at least 3 days.

Homeowners and renters have also been advised to know how to turn off the gas for their residence.