Locations and Resources

The AKDN has been participating in the drill since 2011 – an initiative conceived as part of AKDN's collaboration with California's Office of Emergency Services under the Agreement of Cooperation between the Ismaili Imamat and the State of California.

AKDN Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) and Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS) manages the AKDN ShakeOut drill. AKAH coordinates the drill in all AKAH target countries (Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Syria, and Tajikistan). FOCUS manages the AKDN ShakeOut drill in all other non-AKAH areas. More than 1.8 million people including AKDN staff, volunteers, students, organizations, community members, men and women participated in the 2021 AKDN ShakeOut drill. The Drop, Cover and Hold On (DCHo) method provides simple yet effective steps that can save lives and reduce injury in the event of an earthquake.

2023 AKDN ShakeOut Posters (click to download PDFs by page or all pages)

2023 ShakeOut Annual Highest Participation Award

Awareness raising compaign in residential areas, Tajikistan, 2023

Badakhshan & Bamyan are joining the Great ShakeOut earthquake drills, Afghanistan, 2023

Children practicing protecting themselves in open space, Pakistan, 2023

Drop, Cover, and Hold On practice, Afghanistan, 2023

Earthquake Preparedness Session, India, 2023

Earthquake Preparedness Session, Tanzania, 2023

Educating community to practice how to stay safe when an earhtquake strikes, Syria, 2023

Nursery school children learn safe zones, drill, & evacuation route, Syria, 2023

Pre-drill orientation session, Canada, 2023

Primary school students learn about earthquake safety ahead of drill

ShakeOut drill debriefing quiz, Tajikistan, 2023

Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN)
The Aga Khan Development Network is a group of private, international, non-denominational agencies working to improve living conditions and opportunities for people in specific regions of the developing world. The Network’s organizations have individual mandates that range from the fields of health and education to architecture, rural development and the promotion of private-sector enterprise. Together they collaborate in working towards a common goal – to build institutions and programs that can respond to the challenges of social, economic and cultural change on an ongoing basis.

Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH)
The Aga Khan Agency for Habitat’s (AKAH) goal is that people live in safe, sustainable, and resilient habitats with the opportunity to thrive, whether in a remote mountain village, a town, or a densely populated urban centre. It works with communities to help them prepare for and respond to natural disasters and the effects of climate change. AKAH also works to expand access to services and opportunity for people to improve their life. AKAH helps communities prepare for the worst; provides immediate relief after disaster strikes; and helps build back better -- and greener -- while planning for a better future.

Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS)
Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS) is an international crisis response and emergency management agency. FOCUS provides emergency relief to communities suffering from natural and man-made crises. FOCUS implements disaster risk reduction programmes in areas vulnerable to natural hazards and engages in resettlement and reintegration programmes for populations displaced by civil instability and conflict. FOCUS was founded by the Ismaili Muslim community in Canada in 1994 and today has offices in Europe and North America. FOCUS is an affiliate of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). FOCUS provides disaster risk management programs and emergency humanitarian relief to vulnerable communities primarily in the developing world and endeavors to build local community capacity and foster an enhanced state of disaster resilience.

For more information please click here. For any information and details on how to get involved in the AKDN ShakeOut, please contact: akah-em.department@akdn.org and shakeout@focushumanitarian.org.