GROSSMONT COLLEGE — At 10:20am this morning, this campus will be participating in the largest coordinated earthquake drill in California history – with our own special twist.
The drill, known as “The Great California Shakeout”, has been organized so that 8.6 million people all over the Golden State go through the motions of how to react during and after a major earthquake simultaneously. The website, www.shakeout.org, explains, “We believe that California can become much more prepared for Earthquakes – and be ready to recover quickly. The ShakeOut has been created to help people and organizations get better prepared for major earthquakes, and practice how to be protected when they happen.”
During the drill, fire alarms will be set off all over California to signal/simulate a real earthquake. Grossmont College, however, is putting its own spin on things and upping the stakes considerably.
Jim Papageorge, in coordination with the students and staff of the Audio division of the media communications department here on campus, begged and borrowed a large number of subwoofers and concert sound speakers in order to create their own world class earthquake sound effect: Utilizing the same technology used in movie theatres for the Universal pictures classic, Earthquake (starring Charlton Heston).
The student-run system will generate ultra-low frequencies ranging from 5 to 100hertz that will not only sound like, but will feel like the vibrations you will feel during a major earthquake. The only difference, according to Professor Papageorge, is that in a real earthquake the ground itself will move up and down as much as 3-5feet. “We didn’t have the budget to lift and lower the campus 5 feet, but this is the next best thing,” he said..
And he speaks from experience. “I was present at the 8th largest quake in California history back in 1982. I have a very good idea of how that looked and felt.”
Papageorge and his students worked through much of the afternoon and late into the night preparing for today’s event: hauling massive stacks of speakers and assembling audio equipment to ensure that the display is as successful as it is entertaining. “It is always fun to combine a wonderful learning experience such as, “The Great California ShakeOut” with a real world professional audio stage like this one. That is, to create the sound of a real earthquake to add realism to this safety drill.”
All the faculty on campus has been made aware of the drill, and Public Safety is prepared to handle any confusion that may arise – in the event anyone mistakes the display for an actual earthquake (which is entirely possible).
Papageorge remained optimistic as of yesterday about the event, saying that, “Doing sound outdoors is always a challenge because of the size of the room you’re in. This wonderful sound effect will dissipate fairly quickly with distance. However, within 50-100 yards, it should sound most impressive”.
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Jensma is a student in the Media Communications Department
