School Safety Preparedness Drill

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School Safety Preparedness Drill (SSPD) is an annual earthquake drill for schools in North and North-East India. It is held to remember the Kangra earthquake of April 4, 1905. The drill is run by GeHazards Society (GHS) and GeoHazards International (GHI) with help from the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives.

The first SSPD took place on April 4, 2009, in Dharamshala and other Tibetan schools along the Himalayas, with about 7,500 children in 25 schools taking part at 11:00 a.m. During the drill, students and teachers practiced Drop, Cover, and Hold On under sturdy tables and desks to protect themselves from falling objects. To simulate a real quake, teachers sometimes shake the desks if the earthquake is small, which has caused a few injuries. After the shaking stops, everyone evacuates to a pre-arranged assembly area and participates in a debrief.

Since then, the drill has grown to include more schools and more children, including both Tibetan and non-Tibetan schools. In 2013, the fifth SSPD involved over 50,000 children in 162 schools in North and North-East Indian states, with one school from Bhutan and one from Mandalay in Myanmar also taking part. In 2014, more than 725,000 children participated in about 1,100 schools.