DESOTO COUNTY, MS (abc24.com) - "Shake out so you don't freak out" was the motto of hundreds of students and teachers in DeSoto County Thursday during an earthquake drill.
Mississippi is one of nine states taking part in the "Great Central U.S. Shakeout." It's designed to make sure everyone knows exactly what to do if an earthquake strikes.
About three million people ran through the drill, a good number of them were school children.
"I heard poles falling, walls breaking, ceilings falling in and all different kinds of stuff," says second grader Reagan Sandy. "It's very important to get down under your desk very quickly," adds classmate Bella Miller.
Students at Desoto Central Primary are prepared for the worst.
"We always have to cover our head," says Casey Montelelne.
"When they say that you can exit the building, then you have to put your hands over your head and exit the building," Miller tells abc24.com.
The kids practice drills like this every year. "In case if an earthquake really happened," Sandy says.
Their response will be second nature.
"We want them to kick into automation mode," says Dr. Marcia McNutt, director of the U.S. Geological Survey.
Schools in Mississippi and eight other states, including TN and AR, practiced the safety techniques of drop, cover and hold on.
"So they can protect themselves from falling debris and everything else," McNutt says.
Scientists believe there's up to a 40% chance a serious earthquake will happen in the next 50 years.
"There might be some in our lives that happen," Sandy says. "If we don't know how to do them we won't be prepared."
Emergency responders want people to be ready, especially kids.
"Then they go home and teach parents and older siblings what to do and it becomes a domino effect of increasing earthquake awareness everywhere," adds McNutt.
Students start learning these drills in kindergarten and practice them through high school.