School Earthquake Drill

EARTHQUAKE
DRILL
Why Prepare?
It is important to orient people on earthquake
preparedness in order to be informed of what
to do before, during and after an earthquake.
As such, it is important for school administrators and
teachers to be informed on how to properly conduct
an earthquake drill.
The Difference between an

Earthquake Drill and a Fire Drill
The conduct of an earthquake drill is different from
that of a fire drill. In a fire drill, the sound of a siren/bell
means that a fire is ongoing and all occupants of the building
are to immediately evacuate to ensure their safety. In an
earthquake drill, the sound of a siren/bell indicates that a
strong shaking is ongoing and the level of ground shaking
prevents people to stand and move around. To do so can
cause more injury to the person as debris can fall and
hurt him. One is not supposed to get out of the building
while the shaking is ongoing.
Objectives:
1. To ensure the safety of parents, students,
teachers and staff during and after a damaging
earthquake;
2. To help school administrators and their disaster
action groups to design a specific response plan of
the school for earthquakes;
3. To train teachers, school staff and students on
how to practice proper action and response during
earthquakes; and
4. To test various elements of the response plan
designed
by the School Disaster
Management Committee (SDMC)
STAGE 1
Planning /Organizing the Earthquake Drill
A. Form a School Disaster Management Committee
(SDMC) composed of several teams with specific tasks ( e.g.
First Aid Team, Site Security Team, Fire-Safety Team,
Evacuation Team, Communications Team) and designate an
over-all coordinator.
Members of the SDMC should evaluate the school.
1. Have the following information available yearly: total
number of students, teachers and staff; total number of
students occupying each room, total number of students
occupying each floor,
each building; and identify students or teachers with special needs

(sick, old, disabled) and their location.
2. Acquire the most recent school grounds layout or
plan/map. Use this to identify open spaces and determine
the total area of available space that can be utilized as
area of temporary refuge that will be designated for the
occupants of each building. Determine how many persons
can occupy this open space. (Is the space enough for the
total number of students and teachers?)
3. Obtain a building lay out/ floor plan for each building

that shows the rooms, corridors, staircases and exit
points. (Is the width of the corridor wide enough to
accommodate the flow of traffic during an emergency?)
B. Members of the SDMC should conduct building
watching exercise and identify safe and unsafe spots
inside the school grounds. This is necessary for stressing
the dos and donts
1. Observe hazardous areas/practices within the school
premises and dangerous conditions that may exist which
people have not noticed before This should be plotted on
the layout. (e.g. Any hanging, unstable objects or
structure; condition of power lines and utility poles;
narrow alleys between buildings; elevators; corridors
narrow alleys between buildings; elevators; corridors

are too narrow; are there blockages along the corridors
and exit points; do exit point remain open during school
hours; doors of classroom that swing in instead of swing
out).
STAGE 2
Developing the School
Earthquake Evacuation Plan
After identifying the safe and unsafe spots, the
next step
is to develop the School Earthquake Evacuation
Plan.
1. The School Earthquake Evacuation Plan should
have
provision to utilize all available open spaces
nearest
the building that are evaluated as safe from falling
debris and other materials that may cause injuries
to
student.
3. Consider the number of students in each building

(morning and afternoon session). Designate a
specific
open area for each class as their area of temporary
refuge.
4. Once each class has been assigned a specific
evacuation site, come up with evacuation procedure
using the available map. Initially, all exit points
nearest the room of occupants should be suggested
as their exit routes; assuming that these are
passable after the earthquake
5. Determine the flow of traffic from each room
along the corridors using the information on actual
number of occupants per room and their designated
evacuation area.
6. Indicate by arrows, the flow of student

evacuation
coming out of each room up to their designated
evacuation site. This will be the suggested
earthquake
evacuation route for the students
7. Prepare the final evacuation route and orient all
the
teachers and school staff about this.
8. Prepare Earthquake Survival Kits (flashlight,
battery
operated radio, water, rope, blanket, candle,
matches,
tissue papers, tools like wrench, pliers, hammer,
etc)
STAGE 3
Orientation prior to the conduct of Earthquake
Drill
A. Prepare the students a week before the
scheduled
earthquake drill. For each class, instruct the
homeroom
adviser to do the following:
1. Allot a specific time for lecture on earthquakeswhat it is, how and why they occur, what to do
before during and
after an earthquake.
2. Conduct a classroom observation activity:
Identify the safe spots in the classroom (tables,

desks, doors, etc.)
Identify danger zones (e.g. windows and glass, book
shelves, machinery, cabinets and furniture that may
topple or slide inside the classroom as well as all
hanging and heavy objects)
When dangerous areas within the classroom have
been
identified, ask the students what can be done to
correct these and encourage them to take actions
toward correcting this.
3. Introduce to the students the suggested
evacuation route
prepared by SDMC.
4. Introduce to the students the assigned open area

where
they will evacuate after an earthquake.
5. Assign somebody who will be in charge of making
sure
the door is open during the shaking.
B. The main concern during an ongoing shaking is
how to
protect oneself.
1. Give specific instructions on what to do during
an
earthquake.
Introduce duck, cover and hold
2. Give specific instructions about what to do as

soon as
the shaking stops:
Be alert.
Listen to teachers instructions.
Walk out of the classroom in an orderly manner.
While walking along the corridors to the nearest exit
of the
building, be alert and look out for falling debris.
DONTRun, DONT Push, DONT Talk, DONT Return,
DONT bring your things
Quietly but quickly proceed to the designated
evacuation area for the class and wait for further
NEVER go back to the building once you are outside.

Buildings should be inspected by engineers for
possible damage after an earthquake. Students
should stay in the open area and wait for their
parents/guardians to pick them up.
3. For the teacher, make sure all students are
accounted for
once in the designated evacuation area.
STAGE 4
Actual Conduct of Earthquake Drill
1. Prior to the scheduled drill, inform the
neighborhood regarding the conduct of the drill.
2. Identify and assign observers for each exit points
of the building and evacuation areas. They will give
their comments and observations during the
evaluation of the drill.
3. For the Actual Drill:
Assumptions:
1-minute strong shaking signified by 1 minute
siren/bell
Person can not stand
Buildings may have been damaged but no

collapse
Possible falling objects including glass windows
No immediate assistance will be available for at
least several hours. Self help and sustenance are
required.
Possible injuries, fear, panic among students and
teachers
Give instructions/reiterate the what to dos:

Once the siren is heard, do the proper and
expected actions.
Participants during this 1-minute siren should
perform the duck, cover and hold
After the 1-minute siren, students quietly go out of
room and proceed to previously designated open
space
Teacher should make head count while in the
ground
PHASES OF AN EARTHQUAKE DRILL

Phase 1. Alarm
A pre-arranged signal such as siren/bell should be
known
to all. During the drill, the siren/bell indicates
earthquake/shaking. Students and teachers will be
alerted
by this signal.
Phase 2. Response
While the siren/bell is ongoing, everyone should move
away from windows, glass or light fixtures. In this
phase, everyone should perform duck, cover and
hold under desks, tables or chairs. Remain in this
Phase 3. Evacuation
Once the shaking stops, teachers and students
should
evacuate the school building and proceed using predetermined routes to go to identified evacuation
areas.
Phase 4. Assembly
At the designated evacuation area, students must be
grouped together according to the class where they
belong.
Phase 5. Head count
Teachers should check and make sure all students are
accounted for.
Phase 6. Evaluation
END

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EARTHQUAKE

The Difference between an

each building; and identify students or teachers with special needs

3. Obtain a building lay out/ floor plan for each building

narrow alleys between buildings; elevators; corridors

3. Consider the number of students in each building

6. Indicate by arrows, the flow of student

Identify the safe spots in the classroom (tables,

4. Introduce to the students the assigned open area

2. Give specific instructions about what to do as

NEVER go back to the building once you are outside.

Buildings may have been damaged but no

Give instructions/reiterate the what to dos:

PHASES OF AN EARTHQUAKE DRILL

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