Safety Tips on the Anniversary of Loma Prieta

No Oct. 17 should pass without remembering the 6.9 earthquake that devastated Santa Cruz County at 5:04 p.m. in 1989.

Patch wants to point you to a great new resource, the county's updated and free  Emergency Services Guide, which can be downloaded and printed out.

Chapters include: Four Steps to Preparedness, When Disaster Stikes, Hazards and Basic First Aid. It can literally be a lifesaver.

On Thursday, the state will be participating in the Great California Shakeout, the largest earthquake drill in the world. More than 8.4 million people will participate in the 10:20 a.m. drill and 20,000 from Santa Cruz have signed up. You can join here.

The organizers include the Southern California Earthquake Center, the United States Geological Survey, the California Emergency Management Agency, the California Earthquake Authority the American Red Cross, the California Department of Education and State Farm Insurance.

They suggest that you may want to participate if:

• You know that life-saving actions that must be done instantly, such as drop, cover, and hold on, must be practiced often.
• You want to use the ShakeOut as a reason for getting prepared now.
• You were invited to register by someone you know, and you want to join them.
• You are excited that so many people are working together to prepare California!

Meanwhile, if you want a refresher on the quake, here is a good YouTube news report from the 10th anniversary.

Here's a good Sentinel slide show on the quake and here, a chilling video, from Good Times. There's also this interesting blog about the quake.