Mt. San Jacinto College to 'ShakeOut' Thursday For Earthquake Preparedness

People at Mt. San Jacinto College campuses in San Jacinto and Menifee will join other colleges, universities and organizations Thursday morning in a large-scale earthquake drill.

The college's San Gorgonio Pass campus, at at 3144 W. Westward Ave., Banning, will not take part in the 'The Great California ShakeOut' because there are not enough people there, a college representative said.

More than 8.5 million people are expected to participate in the ShakeOut, which will take place across the state at 10:20 a.m. Thursday.

The college will use its MSJC-Alert system to send e-mails, text messages and phone calls to students and employees at its Menifee and San Jacinto campuses to remind them to 'Drop, Cover & Hold On.'

'GORGONIAN KNOT'

Rupture of the southern , from the Coachella Valley through the Pass to the Mojave Desert, is believed to be the greatest natural hazard California faces in the near future, according to the USGS.

"With an estimated magnitude between 7.2 and 8.1, such an event would result in violent shaking, loss of life, and disruption of lifelines - freeways, aqueducts, power, petroleum, and communication lines - that will bring much of Southern California to a standstill," according to Geophysicist Gary Fuis and other USGS scientists.

"The San Gorgonio Pass is an extension of the northern Coachella Valley," Fuis said earlier this year. "Our studies will help us resolve what we call 'the Gorgonian Knot' - where the San Andreas splits into several branches.

"It's currently active out in the middle of the Pass," Fuis said. "The other branches are at the base of the San Bernardino mountains or within the San Bernardino mountains."

Named faults in the Pass include the San Gorgonio Pass Fault, the Banning Fault, the Mill Creek Fault, the Wilson Creek Fault and the Mission Creek Fault, Fuis said.

Visit ShakeOut.org to learn more about how to prepare for an earthquake.