BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – State Emergency Management Division tsunami evacuation manager Dante Disabatino says this year’s drill will take place at 10:16 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16.

The Great Washington Shakeout happens on the third Thursday of October every year and is the world’s largest earthquake and tsunami drill.

Participants who want to take part should drop, cover and hold on, and if they live near the water they can head to high ground.

“We are encouraging folks to join thousands and, actually, we are over quite a few people registered,” said Disabatino. “Over a million people in Washington and millions more people around the world are doing this at the same time.”

Disabatino says the Cascadia Subduction Zone is right off the coast of Washington and there’s a 10 to 30 percent chance that we could see a very large earthquake over the next 50 years.

“The last major earthquake we had wasn’t as big as the one we’re talking about there,” said Disabatino. “But that was in 2001. It was the Nisqually earthquake. We learned kind of quickly that we need to practice that drop, cover and hold on.”

During this year’s Shakeout, there will not be text alerts sent out, but the state will be testing the tsunami siren system, which consists of over 120 sirens including multiple here in Whatcom County.

So, if you hear those sirens wailing on Thursday morning, don’t be alarmed and do not call 9-1-1.

For all the details and ideas for how you can participate, go to shakeout.org/washington.