More than 1m New Zealanders sign up to earthquake drill More than 1m New Zealanders sign up to earthquake drill 25th Sep 2012 4:23pm | By Kevin Mann The Government of New Zealand has organized a massive earthquake drill called the ‘New Zealand ShakeOut.’ At 9:26 AM tomorrow morning more than 1.2 million people will take part in the first preparative exercise of its kind. All of them will run for protection under the nearest shelter and cover their heads simultaneously. The director of Civil Defence Emergency Management, John Hamilton said, “We are delighted with the response and it would be great to have a record of how people and workplaces made it their own drill.”