Photos from ShakeOut at JMC

Students preparing for NZ ShakeOut at JMC

Change of evacuation meeting point for Thursday's JMC ShakeOut

Be sure to review the *updated* evacuation details in the post below...as the evacuation meeting point has changed after being reviewed.

We are now all to meet on the school field...away from buildings. Once all heads are counted and numbers are reported to the wardens, we can then gather on the grassy bank to review how it all went.

 Please remember that the tennis courts are the usual meeting point for all other school evacuations.

John McGlashan College - Evacuation Procedure

Earthquake Drill Procedure

Period #5 on 27th September: 

On hearing the continuous school bell... 

1. Do the Drop, Cover, and Hold drill with staff and children in your care: Instruct students to
   
   • DROP down onto your hands and knees 
   (before the earthquake knocks you down).
   This position protects you from falling but allows you to still move if necessary. 
2. • COVER your head and neck (and your entire body if possible) under a sturdy table or desk. If there is no shelter nearby, get down near an interior wall (or next to low-lying furniture that won't fall on you), and cover your head and neck with your arms and hands.
   • HOLD on to your shelter (or your position to protect your head and neck) 
   until the shaking stops. Be prepared to move with your shelter if the shaking shifts it around.
   
   Adjust these steps as needed if you will be in an elevator, or other situations during your drill or in an actual earthquake. Instructions are also available for people with disabilities or special requirements. 

 If you are outdoors when the shaking starts, you should find a clear spot away from buildings, trees, streetlights, and power lines, then Drop, Cover and Hold. Stay there until the shaking stops.

While you are doing the drill, imagine that it is real and what might be happening around you. Then, consider what you might need to do before a real earthquake happens to help protect yourself, staff and students, and your school.

Practise what you will do after the shaking stops.   

Proceed with evacuation...

The routine is:

·        The bell will still be ringing continuously... ask class to leave immediately.

·        Count them as they leave

·        If possible shut windows and doors before you leave

·        Quickly check any neighbouring room 
      Exit the building using the safest route... using stairs not elevators 

·        Walk your class up to the grassy school field....away from buildings. Find the safest route there, away from power poles, falling debris from buildings etc...

·        Count heads from your class.

·        Report to Warden after head count.

·        Students with special needs may require particular consideration

As well as doing this, certain persons should act as Marshalls.

This means they check their area is ALL CLEAR and report that to the Warden.

·        Mve – Administration

·        Aan – Rooms 1 – 6

·        Gav – Rooms 7 – 10

·        Mro – Rooms 11 – 13

·        Adu – Rooms 14 – 16

·        Bjo – Specialist Block

·        Dbo – Rooms 23 – 27

·        Rsh – Gilray Block

·        Pga – Library - ELC

·        Nga – Student Centre, Chapel

Other information to consider before the drill...

Ground shaking during an earthquake is seldom the cause of injury. Most earthquake-related injuries and deaths are caused by collapsing walls and roofs, flying glass and falling objects. It is extremely important for a person to move as little as possible to reach the place of safety he or she has identified because most injuries occur when people try to move more than a short distance during the shaking.

Look around you now, before an earthquake. Identify safe places such as under a sturdy piece of furniture or against an interior wall in your home, office or school so that when the shaking starts you can respond quickly. An immediate response to move to the safe place can save lives. And that safe place should be within a few steps to two metres to avoid injury from flying debris.

Drop Cover Hold - What to do in an earthquake

View the video to see what to do in an earthquake...

Kids know best ;)

 

 

" Dunedin residents 'should not be complacent' " - ODT Article

While the chance of a serious earthquake hitting Dunedin is one in 1000, the odds are better than winning Lotto and citizens "should not be complacent", geologist Prof Richard Norris says. 

Should such a quake occur, parts of South Dunedin, Mosgiel and the Taieri would "inevitably" be engulfed in liquefaction, the hill suburbs would suffer landslips and rockfalls and many heritage buildings would be reduced to rubble. 

Prof Norris, of the University of Otago geology department, put such images to the Mornington Probus group at a meeting yesterday. 

The city's most active fault-line, Akatore, which runs from Taieri Mouth to Dunedin, last broke about 1000 years ago, and the chance of it happening again is less than one in 1000, he said. 

Researchers knew a lot about the fault-lines around Dunedin, most of which were not highly active - the Titri Fault has not moved for 90,000 years. 

"But given Christchurch's experience, we should not be too complacent," he said.

The September 4 quake which shook Christchurch and its subsequent devastating aftershock on February 22 both occurred on an old fault-line.

"It's likely the fault had not moved for 15,000 years," Prof Norris said. 

Even if extensive, and expensive, seismic research had been carried out on the fault, it probably would not have been given a high degree of significance. 

The quake was "typical" of most in the South Island as it occurred on a fault which was not recognised. 

Once a fault like that broke, strain was released in its vicinity, but pressure built at either end of it, evident from the pattern of aftershocks Christchurch experienced after September 4.

Between January and February 22, those aftershocks were increasingly closer to Christchurch city and seismologists knew a large quake could not be discounted.

Prof Norris believed the area around the fault was "being shortened", culminating in the deadly 6.3-magnitude quake. 

"The Port Hills have been thrust over the lower-lying areas of the city," he said.

Christchurch's "seismic hazard" was "about double" Dunedin's, but should one occur, the impact would be similar, but of a different nature. 

Soil liquefaction was likely at St Kilda, parts of St Clair, Mosgiel, and the Taieri, including the airport. 

The hill suburbs, along with the Peninsula roads and parts of Kaikorai Valley, would likely suffer rockfalls and landslips, the severity of which would depend on ground moisture.

There "is virtually no chance" of liquefaction on the hill suburbs and the bulk of the city centre and North Dunedin "because there is nothing to liquefy". 

The city largely sits on solid rock, which would result in less violent shaking than experienced in Christchurch. 

However, Dunedin's higher proportion of historic brick buildings meant damage would potentially be worse. 

"A lot of the images we've had [of the Christchurch quakes] have been masses of piles of brick and that's because brick is not a very good material in an earthquake.

"I shudder every time I look around Dunedin." 

Older wooden houses fared better as they are "incredibly resilient" and "flex" in quakes.

"We should not be building with brick, in my view, in New Zealand." 

Prof Norris believed New Zealanders needed to be aware of the nation's quake susceptibility - it sits on two tectonic plates, the Pacific and Australian - and while the Christchurch earthquake decreased the probability of earthquakes in that area, the rest of the country was still at risk. 

"We live with earthquakes." 

Otago Daily Times -  Wed, 9 Mar 2011

Welcome to NZ ShakeOut!

At 9.26am on Wednesday 26 September [9:26-26:9]*, more than one million people will participate in the New Zealand ShakeOut earthquake drill, the first ShakeOut drill held nationwide in any country!

Participants are allowed to hold their ShakeOut drills at any time during the two weeks either side of Wednesday 26th Sept... and our school is having the drill during period #5 on Thursday 27th September.

While earthquake hazard varies from region to region (see below), all of New Zealand is prone to earthquakes. You could be anywhere when an earthquake strikes- at home, at work, at school or on holiday. 

New Zealand ShakeOut has been created to help people and organisations get better prepared for major earthquakes, and practice how to be protected when they happen.

Everyone will practice "Drop, Cover and Hold"—the right action to take in an earthquake.

New Zealand ShakeOut also provides a fantastic opportunity for organisations and businesses to examine and review their own emergency preparedness arrangements. Families and households can create, review and practice their household plans.