The majority of schools in New Westminster haven't been seismically upgraded, but the district has developed a plan to help students and staff prepare for an earthquake.
Last Saturday's 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Haida Gwaii is a reminder that a big one could hit closer to home.
New Westminster school district assistant superintendent Al Balanuik said the district has an earthquake plan it practises several times each year.
An earthquake drill typically starts with a sound over the P.A., Balanuik said.
"At Lord Tweedsmuir they use a maraca," he said. "A real earthquake, according to the principal at Lord Tweedsmuir, sounds like a train."
There is an announcement about the "earthquake," and students go into "duck, cover, hold" mode, Balanuik said.
Students are told to grab onto the leg of a desk to help keep it in place and use it as a shelter against any debris that might fall.
"The hold means hold onto the desk," Balanuik said, "because in an earthquake that desk could move."
Students and the teacher then count to 60 two times, slowly, out loud, Balanuik said.
If students are in the gymnasium and an earthquake hits, they are told to stand near an inside wall.
"They want to make sure they're not under any of the big lights," Balanuik said.
After an earthquake, students and staff do not exit right away, necessarily, Balanuik said.
"The teacher would take attendance, assess the room for injuries, check to see that the kids are OK ... assess room damage," he said.
In each school, designated support staff check classrooms and ask teachers for an update, and teachers stay with their students, Balanuik explained.
The classroom checkers report back to the command centre, and the school principal is usually designated the commander, he said.
The principal makes the decision to either evacuate or stay put, he said. But teachers do have the authority to make decisions based on their circumstances.
"So if I'm a classroom teacher, and it looks like my room is in danger of collapsing, absolutely, I can move my kids out of the room to the designated meeting space," Balanuik said.
The meeting space is usually in a large open field, and evacuation routes are carefully planned to ensure that students don't go under electrical wires, which could fall in an emergency, Balanuik said.
If the school is evacuated, attendance is taken again, he said.
"Everything is planned right down to the emergency kits. The emergency kits are checked regularly," Balanuik said. "Every classroom has an emergency kit. As well, the office has an emergency kit."
The kits contain water, a first-aid kit, emergency food and lists of those who are authorized to pick up the students in the event of an emergency. The district's earthquake response policy is implemented across the district, Balanuik said.
While the earthquake response policy is the same across the district, some school buildings are designated as having a higher need for earthquake upgrades.
In 2004, the Ministry of Education rated six out of 12 schools in New Westminster as being at a "high" or "moderate/high" priority for earthquake upgrades, including New Westminster Secondary School, where roughly 2,000 students attend classes.
Other high-risk schools include Richard McBride, Hume Park, Connaught Heights, John Robson and Lord Kelvin elementary schools.
The district is planning to build a new elementary and middle school - both would be amongst the most seismically safe schools in the province.
For the last decade, the provincial government has been upgrading schools throughout Metro Vancouver, but not one Royal City school made the list of completed seismic projects.
