Midwestern Earthquake Drill Scheduled for April 2011

An earthquake drill in the New Madrid Seismic Zone which has been dubbed The Great Central US Shake-Out has been scheduled for 10:15am on April 28, 2011. According to a press release from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, the drill is for residents of Southern Illinois and neighboring states threatened by a possible major earthquake in either of two significant earthquake zones found in the region..

New Madrid and Wabash Valley

More than 1,000,000 people in the eight-state area threatened by the New Madrid Seismic Zone (named for the small Mississippi River town of New Madrid, MO) as well as by the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone are expected to participate in the April drill. Maps showing the two seismic zones are at this website.

The Central United States Earthquake Consortium is organizing the drill, which will be observed in not just Illinois but all those states threatened by either seismic zone.

Other agencies participating include state and local emergency management agencies, as well as such agencies as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Citizen Corps, US Geological Survey, and American Red Cross

Drop, Cover, and Hold

"Drop, Cover, and Hold" is the strategy the IEMA is promoting. When tremors hit, people should "drop" to the floor, take "cover" under a sturdy desk, table, or other furniture, and "hold" onto the furniture item. After that, be prepared to move with it until the shaking ends.

Sign-Up to Take Part

The IEMA is urging schools, businesses, families, and others to sign up online to take part in the drill at this website.

1811-1812 Quake

In the winter of 1811-1812, a series of massive earthquakes in the New Madrid Seismic Zone struck the region. The United States Geologic Service says there were six major quakes whose severity can only be estimated since there were no seismographs in North America and the region was sparsely populated. Aside from the main shocks, there were more than 1,000 aftershocks of varied strength.

The largest of the tremors were 2 to 3 times larger than the 1963 Alaska quake, 10 times as large as the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

The tremors were felt throughout the eastern US and into Canada.

There were landslides, riverbanks collapsed, large areas sank and filled with water (creating Reelfoot Lake, Kentucky, for example), cracks opened in the ground, high waves sank boats and washed others ashore. Remote cabins collapsed and buildings in existing communities fell due to the battering. In the Mississippi River valley, the river itself was temporarily reversed because of damming effects.

Today, small tremors still occur on occasion, of course, some of which have caused beds to rock or glasses to rattle on shelves.

However, residents of the affected areas are much more concerned about a repeat of the 1811-1812 super quake. The April mutli-state earthquake drill will provide data on just how prepared people are, or, alternatively, are not

SOURCES:

Chicago Press Release Services, "IEMA Encourages Participation in Eight-State "Great Central U.S. Shake-out " Earthquake Drill", Illinois Emergency Management Agency

Earthquake Hazards Program, Historic Earthquakes--New Madrid Earthquakes 1811-1812, USGS

New Madrid Seismic Zone Maps