Drop! Cover! Hold On! Are you prepared for International Shakeout Day this Thursday?

Drop! Cover! Hold On!

That’s what the more than 43 million people around the world who participate in International Shakeout Day will do on Thursday, Oct. 20, at 10:20 a.m.

The National Earthquake Information Center now estimates 20,000 quakes – an intense shaking of the Earth’s surface caused by the crust’s constantly moving tectonic plates – occur each year across the globe. That’s approximately 55 per day!

The death toll – about 20,000 each year, according to Business Insider – is magnified by a lack of preparation for this natural but deadly phenomenon. Great Shakeout drills around the world – including the Great SouthEast ShakeOut, which consists of states along the East Coast from Maryland to Florida – aim to minimize the loss of human life.

University of Mary Washington's Grant Woodwell, a Professor of Earth and Environmental Science at UMW’s Earth and Environmental Sciences Department, is an expert in seismology, the branch of science concerned with earthquakes and related phenomena. A structural geologist, he studies how the crust of the earth deforms, such as during earthquakes, and teaches a UMW class on plate tectonics.

If you’re a journalist looking for an expert to speak about earthquakes for this year’s International Shakeout Day, contact Dr. Woodwell. Simply click his icon now and we'll arrange an interview today.