A massive thank you to everyone who stepped up, logged in, and participated in the 2026 Great ShakeOut!

Together, amateur radio operators delivered over 670 direct "Did You Feel It?" (DYFI) reports straight into the USGS ShakeOut 2.0 Scenario portal. With 610+ participants spanning 43 U.S. states and 11 countries, this drill validated once again that amateur radio is an agile, zero-infrastructure data pipeline capable of feeding critical ground truth into federal science and disaster dashboards.

A few standout achievements from this year's exercise:

• Citizen Science in Action: Over 1,100 total digital transactions (DYFI reports, preparedness surveys, and quizzes) routed across Winlink Telnet, Packet, PACTOR, and VARA modes.

• Exceptional Technical Knowledge: Operators averaged an impressive 94% on the earthquake science and preparedness quiz.

• High Station Readiness: Participants scored a resilient 18.9 out of 25 (75.6%) on the comprehensive all-hazards preparedness audit.

Heartfelt Thanks To:

• The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) & Earthquake Country Alliance (ECA): Special thanks to the USGS DYFI team for their long-standing partnership, institutional openness to auxiliary radio data, and commitment to citizen science.

• Our Exercise Partners & Advocates: Sincere appreciation to Bob Tykulsker (KM6SO) and the Emcomm Training Organization (ETO), along with our regional and international champions - including WLNET-OE, Winlink Treff, Puerto Rico ARES, RATPAC, and local emcomm teams across the globe - for spreading the word, testing procedures, and translating materials.

• Every Participating Operator: Thank you for taking time out of your week to practice Drop, Cover, and Hold On, hone your station's digital capabilities, and demonstrate the value of auxiliary emergency communications.

Consolidated after-action reporting and detailed map dashboards remain accessible at LAX Northeast Exercises and Emcomm Training Organization.

2026 Amateur Radio ShakeOut Exercise Instructions

We invite you to participate and send DYFI reports, Survey and Quiz answers between October 10, 00:00 UTC, and October 19, 00:00 UTC.

Online Version

1. Sending a Winlink USGS DYFI to USGS with CC: SHAKEOUT;ETO-DRILL;WLNET-OE as instructed here .

2. Answering the 2026 Amateur Radio ShakeOut Preparedness Survey and sending the answer CSV to SHAKEOUT;ETO-DRILL;WLNET-OE

3. Reading the The Essential Earthquake Preparedness Guide.

4. Answering the 2026 Amateur Radio Great ShakeOut Quiz and sending the answer CSV to SHAKEOUT;ETO-DRILL;WLNET-OE

Let’s show the power of amateur radio in action—support science, improve preparedness, and participate in the Great ShakeOut!

📄 2026 Amateurfunk-ShakeOut-Übungsanleitung

Wir laden dich ein mitzumachen und deine DYFI-Berichte, Umfrage- und Quiz-Antworten zwischen dem 10. Oktober, 00:00 UTC, und dem 19. Oktober, 00:00 UTC einzusenden. Detaillierte Übungsbeschreibung von Patrick OE1LHP als PDF hier herunterladen. 

Detaillierte Instruktionen von Patrick auf https://groups.io/g/WLNET-OE/topic/wlnet_oe_shakeout_2026/121720100 

Online-Version

1. Sende ein Winlink-USGS-DYFI-Formular an den USGS mit CC: SHAKEOUT;ETO-DRILL;WLNET-OE (gemäß Anleitung).

2. Beantworte die 2026 Amateur Radio ShakeOut Preparedness Survey und sende die Antwort-CSV an SHAKEOUT;ETO-DRILL;WLNET-OE.

3. Lies den Leitfaden The Essential Earthquake Preparedness Guide.

4. Beantworte das 2026 Amateur Radio Great ShakeOut Quiz und sende die Antwort-CSV an SHAKEOUT;ETO-DRILL;WLNET-OE.

Zeigen wir die Stärke des Amateurfunks in der Praxis – unterstütze die Wissenschaft, verbessere deine Notfallvorsorge und mach mit beim Great ShakeOut!

Bob KM6SO (ETO) Shows ShakeOut 2026

Amateur Radio Community Intensity Map - ShakeOut Results

This maps shows DYFI messages received by tactical address "SHAKEOUT". 

📢 The Emcomm Training Organization Posts Results for the "Great ShakeOut" Exercise

See the ETO web site:  :: Winlink Thursdays :: EmComm-Training.org™ ::

Special thanks to Bob KM6SO and ETO for his excellent work compiling the results and providing individualized feedback.

We recommend everyone take a moment to look through the ETO results and analyze their feedback. It is a great opportunity to learn!

DYFI: SHAKEOUT

Please submit an exercise DYFI report for ShakeOut!

In Winlink Message > New Message > Select Template > Standard Templates > USGS > USGS DYFI.txt

then

Select EXERCISE

ExerciseID: SHAKEOUT

Date: 10/15/2026

Time: 10:15

Did you feel it? (REQUIRED): Yes

Your location: Full street address of your current location

LAT, LON: The latitude and longitude of your current location.

Questions: Select your answers to match Mercalli Intensity V or higher

Additional comments: Tell the USGS about yourself and how you are sending this message in this format - 

AFFILIATION, ORGANIZATION, MODE, BAND, COMMENTS 

(Example: LAXNORTHEAST, Organized Exercise, VARA FM, 2m, Fun exercise with 57 other radio operators! )

and

CC: SHAKEOUT;ETO-DRILL;WLNET-OE

RESULTS

Amateur Radio Community Intensity Map by LAXNORTHEAST 

DYFI reports with Cc: SHAKEOUT can be viewed at 

https://www.laxnortheast.org/exercises/shakeout 

Usually updated within 24 hours. 

EMCOMM TRAINING ORGANIZATION (ETO) EXERCISE WEBSITE

DYFI reports with Cc: ETO-DRILL can be viewed at 

https://emcomm-training.org/Non-ETO_Exercises.html  

Q: What is the Exercise ID for ShakeOut?

The Exercises ID is SHAKEOUT per USGS request.

Q: My group does not live in earthquake country. May we participate?

A: Yes! USGS welcomes Winlink exercise traffic from all parts of the world.

Q: My group is international. May we participate?

A: Yes! USGS welcomes and encourages international exercise participation .

Q: Which timezone is the Time?

A: All times are local time.

Q: I won't be able to send my DYFI Report until I return from work. May I send my traffic later in the day or the next day?

A: Yes! Make sure that you are entering the date and time correctly (October 16, 2005 at 10:16) on the Winlink USGS DYFI form and send your  report when you can.

Q: Can I send messages other than USGS DYFI reports to USGS?

A: No! The USGS email in the Winlink message only accepts properly formatted USGS DYFI Reports. All other messages are filtered out.

Q: We are planning an exercise in addition to DYFI. Is that okay?

A: Yes! Shakeout is a great time to test your local and regional radio plans and operations in addition to sending Winlink DYFI Exercise reports.

Q: Would peer-to-peer (P2P) and radio-only (RO) Winlink messages be received by USGS?

A: No. USGS requests that you send your DYFI messages to the official USGS email address the form adds adds automatically.

That means you must use an RMS (Winlink gateway) with an internet connection or Telnet (i.e. the internet) for your DYFI report to be received. USGS does not monitor P2P nor RO.

Q: We are planning a ShakeOut exercise before/after the official ShakeOut date. Is that okay?

A: Yes! You may report your own exercise earthquake event with Winlink DYFI Exercise form submissions. Make sure that your group is aligned on your selected Exercise ID, Date and Time in the Winlink USGS DYFI form . You may customize those.

Q: What is the main goal?

A: Have fun! Shakeout is a great opportunity to learn about disaster preparedness and how volunteer radio operators can help. It is an excellent opportunity to test your radio and group disaster response capabilities.