Earthquake - Free Essay Examples and Topic Ideas

Great ShakeOut Drill

First, earthquake evacuation drills are very beneficial because they help prepare people for real situations in which it could save people’s lives. As we know from personal encounters, California had experienced a lot of earthquakes. Most of us living in California had probably experienced earthquakes already and are familiar with them. In any case of emergency, it’s clear and crucial that we should be prepared for it beforehand by practicing earthquake drills. If we go back in time, the first earthquake evacuation drills had dated back “many many” years ago but recently in 2008, a drill, famously known as the Great ShakeOut, had turned into an annual event for people in their community to practice what they need to do and to enhance preparedness. Furthermore, schools have been catching on to these trends and have been incorporating these drills into their school schedules.

Significance of Earthquake Drills

Historically, on April 18, 1906, the biggest earthquake in Southern California, with a magnitude of 7.9, had struck San Francisco. This unfortunate event was significant because of how it resulted in the death of over 3,000 people, $400 million loss to property damage, also including fire damage. Due to how this earthquake was nothing like any other earthquake that occurred before this one, it had made quite a stir. This led people to be more aware of the significance of earthquake drills. If people were more informed about the right procedures that need to be taken during earthquake drills, many people would have made it out of the disaster alive. Hence, it brings us back to the importance of practicing earthquake drills.

Second, some may believe that taking time out of their schedules to practice these drills are boring or time-consuming. However, it’s rather the opposite, “saving lives” earthquake drills are not boring or time-consuming at all. Most of the time, earthquake emergencies are both unpredictable and unexpected. Therefore, we definitely need to be prepared for it. Earthquakes can often be full of destruction. Earthquakes can be chaotic. Earthquakes can even be quite violent. Therefore, it’s very important for us to practice earthquake drills often, so when the time comes for a real earthquake emergency, there will not be any confusion or panic. We would be more alert and ready. Sadly, students are often seen messing around during earthquake drills. Some may not even be listening to instructions. Students’ ignorance can lead to confusion. Confusion leads to panic. Panic would then lead to disaster. Disaster hence might even lead to preventable and unnecessary deaths. Thus, in a real situation, the chaos caused by ignorance would eventually break out which can be dangerous and could increase the casualty rate. The benefit of practicing these drills is tremendous because when the time comes where an actual earthquake strikes, everyone would not be so overwhelmed about the situation due to already having prior experiences with it.

Historical Facts

In conclusion, based on historical facts and logical deduction and reasoning, earthquake drills are important because of how they can save lives and prepare people for actual scenarios. Maybe enduring those earthquake drills aren’t as bad after all. Do you think you are prepared for the next earthquake?