New Game Teaches Earthquake Preparedness
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS/WBBM) - A new online educational video game is intended to help Illinoisans prepare for an earthquake.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Dave Dahl reports, the game "The Day the Earth Shook" helps players learn about the items they will need for a disaster preparedness kit, and which locations are safe for surviving an earthquake versus which ones are dangerous.
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Players who beat the game can replay it to raise their scores and find themselves on a leader board.
Illinois Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Patti Thompson said the idea is to send the preparedness messages into homes through the kids.
"As a lot of us know that we have kids, a lot of times they bring home the things they learn at school," Thompson said. "We hope that this is one of the things that the kids are learning, and they ask, 'Do we have a disaster preparedness kit? Mom and dad, do we know what to do if there is an earthquake. I can tell you, we should drop, cover and hold if an earthquake hits."
Developers from the Electronic Visualization Lab at the University of Illinois at Chicago created the game, along with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, and the Center for Public Safety and Justice, at the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois.
