Area should prepare for earthquake - and the media focus with bicentennial of New Madrid quakes approaching

Southeast Missourians should prepare for an earthquake, but also for the attention the region will receive as the bicentennial for its biggest earthquake in modern history approaches.

"They're going to be looking at the Midwest and what we've done," said Steve Besemer, earthquake program manager for the State Emergency Management Agency.

Besemer was part of a panel of state and local experts that discussed ways to prepare and what agencies are doing across the region to coordinate efforts in the event of an earthquake. About 20 people attended the Wednesday-night session sponsored by the city and Southeast Missouri State University at the River Campus.

"This threat remains a very real threat," he said after the group watched a History Channel program that documented the series of earthquakes along the New Madrid fault in 1811 and 1812. The documentary predicted the effect of a similar event today.

Several earthquakes believed to reach up to magnitude-9 occurred two centuries ago, spurring reports of ringing church bells in Boston and the Mississippi River flowing backward.

Based on 2,000 years of data, Besemer said scientists predict major earthquakes occur along the fault every 300 to 500 years. A lesser magnitude-6 earthquake struck in 1895 with an epicenter near Charleston, Mo. Earthquakes at that strength tend to occur every 70 to 100 years, he said.

Besemer advocated putting together a kit that could be used in several emergency situations, including ice storms.

"I don't want you to necessarily call it an earthquake kit," he said.

He also recommended dropping to the floor while anchoring one arm to a chair or table while protecting the head and neck with the other. Running out of a building is not always the best decision, he said.

"You don't have a lot of time when the shaking starts," he said.

John Mallott of the Kennett Fire Department and Mark Hasheider, Cape Girardeau assistant fire chief, talked about what their agencies have done to prepare.

Mallott said there has been a push to obtain water purifiers and work on seismic building codes.

"You can't take the earthquake away," he said. " You have to stiffen up your building codes."

Community training is also important, he said. People should prepare to sustain themselves for 96 hours in an emergency, he said.

"When you're prepared, you give [emergency responders] a window of opportunity," Mallott said.

Hasheider said the region has always been forward-thinking when preparing for disasters, including the construction of the flood wall, among other projects.

"If people back then would not have thought about hazard mitigation, we would not have a downtown," he said.

If a major earthquake occurs it would affect five regions. Outside help will go to the bigger populations first, said Jim Watkins, Community Emergency Response Team coordinator for Southeast Missouri.

"I don't teach doom and gloom," he said. "I teach self-sufficiency."

abusch@semissourian.com

388-3627