# 6057
We are now less than a month away from The Great Central U.S. Shakeout, scheduled for 10:15am on February 7th, 2012. You can view a brief (30 sec.) PSA on this event below.
Last year, in the first central states shakeout drill, more than three million people registered to participate. This year they hope to improve those numbers.
This exercise will be conducted in the style of The Great California Shakeout which has been been running successfully for a number of years (see Reminder: Great Shakeout On Thursday)
So far more than 1 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:
And to learn what to do during an earthquake, Shakeout.org has a number of short videos at this link.
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.
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, last year the United States government conducted a National Level Exercise (NLE 2011) designed simulate a catastrophic earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ).
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 spring that damaged or destroyed thousands of structures, injured thousands of people, and claimed the lives of hundreds 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/
