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HELENA - Montana's capitol city has a history of earthquake activity, and city officials want to prepare residents for potential emergencies. So on Friday, the Office of Disaster and Emergency Services held an earthquake drill at the city-county building.

They told nearly 200 employees to drop, duck, and cover their heads. Officials told them during an earthquake they should not run out of the building or stand in a door way, despite the common misperception that a door frame is a safe place to be during a temblor.

"Get under sturdy furniture, like desks. If you happen to be out in the open, we tell this to kids in the gym, put one arm above their head, another arm above their neck and they are good to go," explained Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator Paul Spengler.

The Helena Public Schools will be conducting earthquake drills during the month of October and Spengler hopes this will raise awareness about the dangers of earthquakes in Helena.

The following information is from the U.S. Geological Survey website about Montana earthquake activity:

Montana is one of the most seismically active States in the Union. Since 1925, the State has experienced five shocks that reached intensity VIII or greater (Modified Mercalli Scale). During the same interval hundreds of less severe tremors were felt within the State. Montana's earthquake activity is concentrated mostly in the mountainous western third of the State which lies within a seismic zone that also includes southeastern Idaho, western Wyoming, and central Utah. Although earthquakes are common in Montana, the early history of felt shocks is incomplete. Only four felt earthquakes that occurred before 1900 are on record. The first was a shock on May 22, 1869, that reached intensity VI at Helena. In 1872 Helena was shaken again, this time by two earthquakes, one on December 10 and the other on December 11, both intensity VI. The fourth pre-1900 earthquake was an intensity VI shock that struck Dillon November 4, 1897. A series of severe earthquakes in the Helena area during October and November 1935 caused four deaths, several injuries, and property damage exceed $4 million. The first shock of the series came on the evening of October 3 in the form of a hard vertical jolt (intensity V). On October 12, a stronger shock occurred that caused some damage in Helena and Fort Harrison (intensity VII) and had a total felt area of 181,000 square kilometers. Smaller shocks continued until October 18 when a magnitude 6 1/4 earthquake occurred. This tremor, the strongest of the series, caused damage in varying degrees to about 300 buildings and was widely felt in Wyoming, Idaho, eastern Washington, and adjacent parts of Canada, an area of about 596,000 square kilometers.

The newly completed Helena High School suffered the greatest damage of any single structure. Damage to the State capitol, Federal building, and the St. Helena Cathedral was slight. Telephone, telegraph, and electrical services were stopped for about 1 hour. East of Helena ground cracks up to 45 meters long and 1 meter deep were formed. In spite of the great damage from this shock, there were only two fatalities and few injuries. Another shock on October 27 caused additional damage to weakened structures (intensity VI). On October 31, a magnitude 6 earthquake cause more damage and two fatalities. Many buildings, weakened by the previous shocks, were demolished, including the new high school. Damage was most severe in the business section. The October 31 earthquake was felt in the same States as the October 18 shock, but the total felt area was somewhat less (approximately 363,000 square kilometers). Following the October 31 earthquake, aftershocks continued to occur. A fairly strong tremor occurred on November 21 and another on November 28, both intensity VI. The first was felt over 34,000 square kilometers and the other over 233,000 square kilometers. The latter tremor caused additional damage to previously weakened buildings. Helena again suffered minor damage from an aftershock on February 13, 1936. A total of 1,347 shocks from this series were listed up to the end of 1935.