Drop, cover and hold on.

San Diego City College was hit with a pretend earthquake on Oct. 21 at 10:21 a.m.

As part of the 2010 Great California Shake Out, City College participated in this statewide drill in which all schools, organizations and families were encouraged to participate.

The Learning Resource Center (LRC) and classrooms in the building were evacuated during the pretend earthquake while the Campus Community Emergency Response Team responded to catastrophe scenarios in different rooms.

Vice President of Administrative Services Jerry Davis said City College participated in the drill to see how effective their recently trained C-CERT team will be during an emergency.

“I give us an 80 percent,” Davis said.

The vice president said that during the drill it was discovered that their walkie-talkies do not provide accurate communication from outside the building to the inside.

“The walls are too thick,” Davis said. “Communication is key in these type of situations. We will fix this immediately.”

Physical geography professor Lisa Shaddock, whose class was also evacuated, provided some advice that she said will keep people safe during an earthquake or any other catastrophe.

If an earthquake were to hit during school hours, Shaddock advises that people stay inside buildings, ducked and covered. Never run out into the street because vehicles could lose control and hit someone. She also advised that people should never stand near buildings because shattered windows could cause injuries.

Shaddock also recommends that the campus community carry first aid kits in their vehicles.

City College Public Information Officer Heidi Bunkowske said this type of drill is important for the campus C-CERT, because this is the closest they have to the real thing.