USGS

The first ShakeOut in 2008 simulated this 7.8 magnitude quake.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Over seven million residents statewide will "drop, cover, and hold on" at 10:21am on Thursday as part of the Great California ShakeOut. The annual earthquake drill encourages people at home and at work to take a few minutes out of their day to rehearse what to do in case a trembler strikes.

Individuals, businesses and other groups can participate by visiting the Great ShakeOut website where they can download materials to assist in the simulation and register to be included in the official count.

As part of the event, CERT-LA (the Los Angeles Community Emergency Response Team) members will be Pershing Square from 8am to 4pm providing information and recruiting residents to join the team.

The theme of the 2010 ShakeOut is "Secure Your Space," encouraging everyone to identify, then strap down, any items, including shelving and large appliances, that could fall on them during an earthquake.

The annual event has taken place the last Thursday of October since starting in 2008 as the Great Southern California ShakeOut. 5.8 million residents participated, making it the largest earthquake drill in U.S. history at the time. The following year it not only expanded statewide, but New Zealand also held a ShakeOut on their West Coast as well. This year, Nevada and Guam will also join in the ShakeOut, which looks to expand to additional states and countries next year.

Note: From 10am to 12pm on Friday, the city's Emergency Operations Center at 500 E. Temple will host an expert roundtable on emergency preparedness. The presentation is open to the public, but reservations are encouraged. (Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly stated that this event would take place on Thursday.)