UVU earthquake drill next week
Utah will be having an earthquake drill on April 17 at 10:15 a.m. Nicola Prichett/UVU Review.
It is a normal day of class. Students are sitting in desks listening intently to favorite professors, when suddenly the walls and ground start shaking. In that long awaited moment, will students know what to do?
At 10:15 a.m. on April 17, all of Utah will be asked to drop, cover and hold on. Jim Michaelis is the vice president of facilities and planning, and said he received an email from the state of Utah about a statewide drill.
“Students are not required to participate, but we encourage it,” Michaelis said. “Talk in your classes about it after- ward and look around to see what would be falling.”
Although UVU will not be doing evacuations with the drill, many other institutions will be. Michaelis explained why this conclusion was made.
“The problem we have with evacuations is finals are coming up and it would interrupt classes too much,” Michaelis said.
Michaelis said fliers will be sent out the day before the drill, preparing students for the drill. In addition to the information given, students may wonder how safe UVU campus is in the event of an earthquake.
“Our campus is probably better than any in the state because our buildings are at the most current seismic stan- dards,” Michaelis said.
While walking through the Liberal Arts building, one may notice metal braces in the walls. According to Michaelis, these are built for earthquakes.
“We are as safe as we possibly can be, but you never know until the shaking starts happening,” Michaelis said. “The fault line is near UVU, and goes along the mountains and through Provo canyon.”
UVU will be using the fire alarm system for the drill, but this alarm will not be used in the case of a real earthquake.
“It’s not a matter of if, but when,” Michaelis said.
For more information: www.shakeout.org/utah