Drop, cover and hold on: Tomorrow is the Great Central U.S. Shakeout!

At 10:15 a.m. tomorrow, more than 2 million Americans in nine central U.S. states will drop to the ground and hold on. No, it’s not a new dance craze — Thursday, Feb. 7, is the Great Central U.S. Shakeout!

The shakeout is a chance to practice your earthquake preparedness drills. Millions of people take part in these drills every year. Even if you don’t live in an area where earthquakes frequently occur, it’s important to be prepared, as they can happen anywhere and anytime. (Just ask people who lived in central Virginia in 2011.)

If you’ve never run an emergency drill before, the shakeout website makes it easy — there are free toolkits for schools, offices and home on the organization’s resources page. 

If you live in the central U.S., you can participate in tomorrow’s drill by signing up here. And if you live in another state, or even another country, don’t worry — there will be more Shakeout drills throughout the year!

Getting ready for earthquakes has never been so simple.

Let us know how your shakeout goes in the comments!

More than 13 million people are getting ready for earthquakes this week

What are you doing Thursday, Oct. 18, at 10:18 a.m. local time?

Get Ready and APHA will join more than 13 million people around the world to get ready for the most unpredictable kind of disaster — earthquakes!

The event is called the Great ShakeOut, and it’s designed to help people prepare for emergencies by practicing what they will do in an earthquake. This year, millions of people in the U.S. will be joined by people in Canada and Italy to hold the world’s largest earthquake drill.

To find out if your state, region or territory is participating, visit shakeout.org. You can also check for local events or sign up to hold your own. If you don’t live in an area where there are official events going on, you can still hold your own drill and sign up.

The best part is that the Great ShakeOut makes it really easy to plan an earthquake drill by providing instructions, posters, videos and even sound effects to help make your event simple and effective. There are free resources for schools, businesses, health care offices, houses of worship and your home.

So, what are you waiting for? Be part of something huge: Shake out with us this Thursday!