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The Great Central U.S. Shakeout

 

 

 

 

# 5505

 

 

We are now less than ten days away from  The Great Central U.S. Shakeout, scheduled for 10:15am on April 28th. 

 

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This will be the first year for this drill in the Midwest, but it will be conducted in the style of The Great California Shakeout which has been been running successfully for a number of years. 

 

You can read more about last year’s California Shakeout  and last January’s  Great Oregon/British Columbia ShakeOut.

 

So far more than 2.4 million individuals, businesses, organizations, and entities have registered to participate in this year’s Shakeout. 

 

To learn how to join in, click on the image below:

 

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And to learn what to do in an earthquake, watch this 4 minute video from Shakeout.org. 

 

 

This year is the bicentennial of the great New Madrid quake of 1811-12, a series of 4 massive shocks (7.2-8.0 mag.) over a two month period which fortunately occurred at time when that part of the country was sparsely populated.

 

While large earthquakes are rare in this part of the country, they do happen. 

 

And today millions of Americans live in this seismic zone.   A quake approaching anywhere close to those magnitudes today would be catastrophic.

 

The map below comes from the USGS document Earthquake Hazard in the New Madrid Seismic Zone Remains a Concern.

 

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There are historical accounts of major earthquakes
in the New Madrid region during 1811–12. The geologic record of pre-1811 earthquakes also reveals that the New Madrid seismic zone has repeatedly produced sequences of major earthquakes, including several of magnitude 7 to 8, over the past 4,500 years. These prehistoric earthquakes caused severe and widespread ground failures in the New Madrid region, much like those caused by the 1811–12 earthquake sequence. – USGS.

 

 

Given the risks, this year the United States government will conduct a National Level Exercise (NLE 2011) that will help to  prepare and coordinate a multiple-jurisdictional integrated response to a national catastrophic event.

 

NLE 2011, which will be held next month (May), will simulate a catastrophic earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ). 

 

FEMA describes the exercise as:

 

NLE 2011 is a White House directed Congressionally-mandated exercise that includes the participation of all appropriate federal department and agency senior officials, their deputies and staff; and key operational elements. NLE 2011 will focus on regional catastrophic response and recovery activities between federal, regional, state, tribal, local and private sector participants.

 

 

For more on NLE 2010 you can visit FEMA’s Factsheet.

 

National Level Exercise 2011 (NLE 2011)

 

 

And for more on this, you can check out FEMA director Graig Fugate’s blog of  April 18, 2011 Less than 2 Weeks to Go to Central U.S. Shakeout – What Will You Do?.

 

 

We live on a violent planet.

 

One wracked by storms, fires, floods, drought, volcanoes, earthquakes and myriad other natural disasters.  

 

One need only look at the super-outbreak of tornadoes last week that damaged or destroyed thousands of structures, injured hundreds of people, and claimed the lives of 45 people as they swept across the Mid-west and into the Carolinas to realize just how violent.

 

Emergencies happen every day.  Disasters, admittedly, less often. 

 

But in either event, preparedness is key.

 

At a bare minimum, every household should have a disaster plan, a good first aid kit (and the knowledge to use it), and emergency supplies to last a minimum of 72 hours during a disaster.

 

To become better prepared as an individual, family, business owner, or community to deal with these types of disasters: visit the following preparedness sites.

 

FEMA http://www.fema.gov/index.shtm

READY.GOV http://www.ready.gov/

AMERICAN RED CROSS http://www.redcross.org/

 

Having lived nearly a decade on the cusp of the New Madrid fault (just west of Poplar Bluff, actually), and having friends who still reside there, I have a particular interest in this exercise.  

 

I will undoubtedly mention it again before the 28th.

 

If you live in any of the 8 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee) that will be participating in this year’s Great Central U.S. Shakeout, I would encourage you to take part.

 

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