My wife and I participated in the "Shakeout," the biggest U.S. earthquake drill in history [Nov. 13]. The biggest "shock" we got was the lack of media coverage in our Inland Empire location! (We live in the Four Seasons 55-plus community, nestled against the borders of both of the incorporated cities of Temecula and Murrieta.)

Just beforehand, we did our own in-home look-around for where we would "drop-cover-and-hold," depending on which room we were in at the moment the simulated quake hit; evaluated where we could expect the most shelved materials (books, china, DVDs, etc.) to fall, so we could avoid those; then we looked for media coverage, so we could play along with the whole region during the drill.

Surprise! Nothing in The Californian that day to remind residents to join in at home or to participate at one of the many simulated disaster sites! For shame, local newspaper! (Editor's note: The Californian ran a large story about the drill on Nov. 10 to alert readers in advance.)

We looked for a TV channel to help instill some realism. Surprise! Temecula's Channel 3 had no live coverage to show us what the valley schools, businesses and first responders were doing: an opportunity lost!

We were really amazed that most of the L.A. network affiliates chose not to break away from usual morning fare, recorded three hours earlier in New York, with no (or scant) mention of the big drill in Southern California. These L.A. TV stations routinely break into network time with car chases, wildfires, mudslides, police-criminal standoffs, murders, etc. -- but not for this historical and so-important preparatory drill!

Congratulations to CW KTLA-TV Channel 5 and Fox News, Channel 11, for thorough coverage of the drill all across the region. We didn't see any coverage of Inland Empire participation, but we understood there was much to cover elsewhere.

One would think that an area as populated and affluent as Riverside and San Bernardino counties would be able to muster some home-grown media coverage, even if it had to be streamed over the Internet!

We hope the drill is repeated periodically, to keep the training and the alertness fostered by the "Shakeout" fresh in all our minds.

The two channels that did participate covered such important matters as what is needed in each home's "earthquake kit" and where to find these materials. Media Web sites will also cover these preparedness issues.

A follow-on drill should be announced several months in advance, with encouragement for all Southern California residents to obtain kit materials beforehand and make changes to prevent toppling of bookcases, glassware "walking" off shelves, etc.

The goals, between now and then, should be as follows:

- Assess how this drill went.

- Disseminate a set of "lessons learned" from this massive drill.

- Announce the date of the next drill.

- Get the media involved before the next drill is held.

- Conduct "Shakeout 2" and assess areas of improvement or decline.

And finally: Repeat, repeat, repeat!

Stuart Huntington is a Murrieta resident.