Pacific Northwest, California, Alaska, Hawaii, and parts of the intermountain West face real earthquake risk. Most youth-sports programs in these regions have not formalized an earthquake-during-practice protocol.
This piece is the framework for programs in earthquake-prone regions.
The indoor protocol: drop, cover, hold on.
For indoor activities (gym, pool deck, indoor field):
Drop to the ground.
Cover under sturdy furniture or against an interior wall away from windows and tall objects.
Hold on until shaking stops.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) standard. Drop-cover-hold-on is the published evidence-based protocol.
For gymnasiums and large open indoor spaces:
Move away from windows, suspended lighting, basketball backboards, and any free-standing tall equipment.
Drop and cover head with arms.
Stay away from large interior structures that could topple (storage units, bleachers).
After shaking stops, evacuate carefully. Watch for fallen lighting, broken glass, structural damage.
The outdoor protocol.
For outdoor activities (field, court, track):
Move to open ground away from buildings, trees, fences, light poles, and power lines.
Drop to the ground.
Cover head with arms.
Stay down until shaking stops.
Most outdoor injuries from earthquakes come from falling objects rather than ground motion directly. Open ground is safer than near-structure ground.
The pool protocol.
For aquatic activities:
Stay in the pool if already swimming. The water absorbs ground motion.
Move toward the edge but not out yet. Climbing out during shaking can produce falls.
Once shaking stops, exit carefully.
Watch for pool deck cracking, lights falling into the pool, and other hazards.
The post-shake assessment.
After the shaking stops:
Account for every kid by name. Roster check.
Assess injuries. Standard first-aid protocols.
Assess the venue for damage. Walk the field, court, or pool area for hazards before resuming or evacuating.
Identify gas smells, downed power lines, structural cracks. Any of these triggers evacuation.
Communicate with parents. Most kids will want to call home; most parents will want to confirm safety.
Aftershock awareness. Aftershocks often follow the main shake. Continued readiness for additional drop-cover-hold-on events for hours to days.
The structural-damage decision.
If the venue shows structural damage:
Evacuate to open ground. Do not return to the building until cleared by qualified inspectors.
Do not use elevators (if applicable to the venue).
Be cautious of broken glass, debris, downed objects.
Coordinate with the venue’s emergency-response plan.
The communication during.
Cell service can be disrupted after major earthquakes. Programs in earthquake-prone regions should have:
Pre-arranged communication plans for parents (text-tree, app notifications, multiple channels).
Designated out-of-area contact who relays information when local lines are overwhelmed.
Backup non-electronic communication (printed roster, phone-tree paper backup).
The preparedness drill.
USGS, FEMA, and the Great ShakeOut program promote annual earthquake drills. Programs in earthquake-prone regions should participate or run their own equivalent.
A 15-minute drill at the start of the season:
Walk through the drop-cover-hold-on procedure.
Identify safe spots at the practice venue.
Practice the roster check.
Identify the evacuation route.
Programs that have run the drill respond meaningfully better than programs that have not.
The Pacific Northwest specific consideration.
The Cascadia Subduction Zone produces the potential for very large earthquakes affecting Oregon, Washington, and Northern California. The published scenarios include sustained shaking (4 to 6 minutes), widespread infrastructure damage, and tsunami risk for coastal areas.
For programs in coastal Pacific Northwest:
Tsunami evacuation routes from coastal fields are part of the planning.
The Cascadia event scenarios produce regional-scale impacts; family-reunification planning matters as much as immediate-safety planning.
State-level emergency-management resources have specific guidance.
For coaches in earthquake-prone regions.
The emergency action plan (EAP) should include earthquake protocols.
Annual drill participation.
Awareness of the venue’s structural information (older buildings vs new construction; some older structures have specific vulnerabilities).
For families.
For kids attending practice in earthquake-prone regions, the family-side preparedness matters:
Family communication plan including out-of-area contact.
Emergency kit at home (basic FEMA-recommended supplies).
Awareness that the kid’s program may have specific protocols.
The honest read. Earthquake protocols for youth-sports activities are largely absent in most programs even in earthquake-prone regions. The published frameworks are well-established and free to implement. Programs in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah, and other earthquake-prone states should have these in writing.
For families considering programs in these regions, asking about earthquake protocols is reasonable. Programs that have considered it are programs that have thought about the spectrum of safety planning, not just sport-specific concerns.