A 36-foot-long earthquake simulator capable of replicating the intensity of a magnitude 7.0 temblor is rolling into Balboa Park this Thursday, giving San Diegans a hands-on taste of what the Big One might actually feel like. The rig will sit in the area north of the Plaza de Panama Fountain from 6 a.m. to noon, open to anyone who wants to step inside and feel the ground move without the actual disaster.
The California Governor's Office of Emergency Services is bringing the simulator to Balboa Park as part of a statewide tour, according to NBC San Diego. Visitors who climb aboard will feel simulated shaking similar to a real earthquake while experts on hand walk them through preparedness information, per a release cited by einpresswire.com. The branded Cal OES unit itself measures 14 feet high, 9 feet wide and 36 feet long, the same release notes.
Thursday's stop at 1549 El Prado isn't a one-off. It caps a four-city sweep that began in San Francisco on Oct. 12, rolled through Sacramento on Oct. 13 and hit Los Angeles on Oct. 14 before arriving in San Diego, the final stop on the tour.
Timed to the Statewide ShakeOut Drill
The simulator's visit is no accident of scheduling. It lands the same day as the Great California ShakeOut, an annual earthquake drill set for 10:15 a.m. on Oct. 15, and the station's report notes millions of Californians are expected to participate by dropping to the ground, taking cover and holding on. The drill has become something of a fixture statewide; per the San Diego Union-Tribune, the annual event asks millions of residents to practice those same life-saving actions every year.
Cal OES Director Caroline Thomas Jacobs framed the tour as part of a broader mission, saying the state is “committed to reaching communities across the state with the tools and information they need to protect their families before disaster hits,” according to the same release. California also operates an earthquake alert system that Cal OES describes, per the same account, as the first of its kind in the nation.
A Familiar Sight for San Diego County
This isn't the first time a shake simulator capable of mimicking a magnitude 7.0 quake has come through the region. Back in 2023, the Union-Tribune reported that a similar rig was scheduled to visit El Cajon on Thursday, setting up in Parking Lot 5 at Cuyamaca College and opening to the public from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., with first responders on site offering their own preparedness tips.
The stakes behind these demonstrations are hard to overstate given turnout numbers from past drills. According to UC San Diego's Blink safety office, California logged more than 10 million ShakeOut participants last year alone, underscoring just how many residents already treat the annual drill as routine.
For San Diegans curious enough to feel the shaking firsthand, Thursday morning at Balboa Park offers a chance to do so before the 10:15 a.m. drill asks the rest of the state to drop, cover and hold on without any simulator at all.
