California stages huge earthquake drill

Nearly eight million Californians signed-up to participate in the statewide preparedness drill, including 1.2 million in the Bay Area. It aimed to remind people what to do when the big one hits.

Alamo Elementary school in San Francisco was one of many schools in the bay area that took part in the 'Great California ShakeOut.'

Before the drill, the kids learned about earthquake safety and what to put together in a disaster kit, but the key was to learn how to stay safe in the earthquake.

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom was also at the school.

"These drills become important because they're not an abstract question," he said. "It's not just fun to roll, duck, and cover. It's real, and it's scary."

BART also took part in the drill for the first time and it stopped all trains for 1 minute at exactly 10:21 a.m.

It was exactly this week 21 year ago, that the Loma Prieta earthquake hit, paralyzing commuters, roads and highways.

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earthquake, california news, janelle wang

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