Millions participate in California earthquake drill

Alarms rang throughout California at 10:15 Thursday morning for a statewide earthquake safety drill, the Great California ShakeOut.

Organizers expected millions of people to “drop, cover, and hold” as they would in the event of a real quake. The drill scenario involved a mock 7.8 magnitude earthquake.

Hospitals practiced triage with volunteers pretending to be injured victims. Office workers who participated in the drill filed out of high-rises.

At Cal State L.A., hundreds of students and staff moved from buildings to designated safe spaces outdoors.

Economist Jack Kyser was on campus as the alarms blared. He predicted the economic effect of an earthquake wouldn’t be all bad.

“You’d have a lot of stimulus flowing in," Kyser says. "Go back to the 1994 Northridge earthquake. You saw a lot of federal money coming in for recovery. And you saw a bump up in employment.”

The first Great California ShakeOut earthquake drill took place last year.