Maybe you were one of them. Millions of people across the state took part in an earthquake drill Thursday morning called the Great American Shakeout.
It was also a chance for Metrolink, the commuter rail system which serves Ventura County, and five other Southern California counties to test its new quake technology.
Metrolink trains are tied into the state’s ShakeAlert system, which notifies users that a major quake has occurred, and shock waves are coming. After a big quake is detected, the Metrolink system automatically slows the trains.
During the drill, trains operating on Metrolink tracks were automatically slowed to 20 miles an hour. The idea is to reduce the threat of a derailment during a major quake.
Metrolink conductors announced to passengers that the reported quake, and emergency slowing were only a drill to test the system.
It actually got a real test in August, when the system automatically slowed trains operating at the time as a result of the Ojai area’s magnitude 5.1 earthquake.