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Tuesday, June 19,
2007

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Fulton
Sun

California
Democrat

Posted: Tuesday, Jun 19, 2007 - 08:07:27 am
CDT

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Emergency
officials practice earthquake response
By BETSY
TAYLOR
Associated Press Writer

ST. LOUIS (AP) - As
emergency responders in parts of several states including
Missouri woke up Tuesday, they knew they were going to be
responding to a fake earthquake.

What they didn't specifically
know is how their communities would be affected during three
days of drills: scenarios where communications are cut,
bridges are down, even instances where leadership doesn't
survive the mock quake.

Officials say the public
probably won't notice the drills, which include tabletop
exercises, but also practice in the field.

The
exercises relate to a mock 7.7-magnitude earthquake along the
New Madrid fault, a network of deep cracks in the earth's
surface from southern Illinois to northeastern Arkansas. It
produces hundreds of small quakes a year, most too weak to be
noticed without scientific equipment.

But in 1811 and
1812, it produced a series of big earthquakes estimated at
magnitude 7.0 or greater, and officials know a similar quake
today would cause extensive damage.

The U.S. Coast
Guard and Environmental Protection Agency will test how they'd
respond to multiple spills following an earthquake, say if
toxic substances began leaking into waterways at the same time
broken pipelines began to spill.

In Missouri, more than
80 cities and counties will take part in exercises, at first
taking a look at how they'd respond to people in need at the
start of a catastrophic quake.

Then, they'll fast forward
over the next two days, examining what they would do in the
days and weeks after a major earthquake - how they would do
things like provide social services, coordinate with insurance
companies, or reopen banks and universities, said Missouri
State Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Susie
Stonner.

Jim Wilkinson, executive director of the
Central United States Earthquake Consortium in Memphis, Tenn.,
said Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee will be running
earthquake drills and reviewing their state plans. Several
other states will support the drills related to spills in an
emergency.

Wilkinson said the drills this week had been
planned for about two years. They will allow agencies to
identify shortfalls and areas that need improvement.
Responders can also build relationships with one another prior
to an emergency.

“We don't want to be exchanging
business cards at the event,” he said.

Some agencies
will be checking in for certain parts of the drills. Cape
Girardeau's emergency management director, Mark Hasheider,
noted that responders in that southeast Missouri community
will do tabletop exercises related to earthquake emergency
response on Tuesday. Then, on Wednesday and Thursday, they'll
simulate a building collapse, where crews will perform search
and rescue drills to locate 18 mannequins in part of a
collapsed building.

The exercises will allow them to
cut through concrete floors and walls and shore up wooden
walls to get to the mannequins.

Wilkinson noted more
work needs to be done.

“The federal government doesn't
have a New Madrid-specific plan,” he said.

Work is
being done to tailor federal emergency plans to specific
possible disasters following Hurricane Katrina, which
devastated parts of the Gulf Coast. New Madrid earthquake
drills led by FEMA are currently planned for 2011, he
said.

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