By Stuart Moffatt, associate director, Emergency Management 

Living and working on Utah’s fault line, no one knows when the big earthquake will hit. That’s why the Department of Public Safety wants everyone to practice what to do on April 19 at 10:15 a.m., during the Great Utah ShakeOut. Emergency Management at the U will send a campus alert, encouraging all of campus to DROP, COVER and HOLD ON. Remember, it is not the shaking of the ground that causes death or injury, it is the objects that are falling that will be most dangerous.

The Great Utah ShakeOut is a day of organized to inspire our Campus Community to get ready for big earthquakes, and to prevent disasters from becoming catastrophes. What we do now, before a big earthquake, will determine what our lives will be like afterwards.

You can take steps right now to be better prepared. If you are a student, make sure you have 16 ounces of water and 1,200 calories of protein with you at all times while you are on campus. Keep your water bottle full by topping it off when it gets below half. A back up battery (for cellphone), medication, whistle and a list of important contact information are great items to add and don’t take up a lot of room. If you are faculty or staff, make sure you have an emergency disaster kit at your work space.

Update your profile on CIS and make sure you can receive emergency alerts via SMS from the University. When an emergency or disaster happens on Campus, public safety officials send important safety information and protective actions through Campus Alert system.

Download the U Heads Up! app today for Apple or Android and follow the instructions to download campus emergency plans. The Emergency Response Guide is a digital guide of emergency protective actions you can click on to get immediate instructions on how to respond to any emergency on Campus.

Practice DROP, COVER and HOLD ON. It may save your life when the earthquake strikes