Congressional panel to conduct earthquake hearing in St. Louis

WASHINGTON -- Beefing up earthquake preparedness along the New Madrid fault is the focus of a congressional field hearing in St. Louis this week, as lawmakers work to prevent the lapses that occurred during Hurricane Katrina.

The hearing Friday will address what federal, state and local officials can do prepare for a major earthquake that could hit southeastern Missouri.

"Unlike a hurricane, an earthquake cannot be forecast and gives no warning," said Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo. "At the very first moment we know an earthquake is occurring, we must be in response mode."

Scientists have long warned that a massive earthquake could strike the area around the New Madrid seismic zone, which extends from southern Illinois south through parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Emerson, of Cape Girardeau, will join members of the House Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management at the hearing to highlight the shortcomings in current response plans.

Only one bridge between St. Louis and Memphis is built to withstand a magnitude 6.0 earthquake, for example, despite the region being a crossroads of interstate highways, river, rail and pipeline transportation, Emerson said.

Most of the communications equipment available to first responders could be knocked out if telephone lines or cell phone towers are damaged, she said, while medical equipment and many emergency response vehicles are stored in buildings that can't withstand a major quake.

Emerson and Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., have called for a major preparedness exercise that would include federal, state and local entities.

"As is the case with military training, planning and preparation exercises help to improve current capabilities, but more importantly, they tell us where we need to focus additional time, effort and resources," said Talent, who will testify before the panel.

Emergency officials from Illinois and Missouri and a representative from the Federal Emergency Management Agency also plan to testify at the hearing.

Some of the largest quakes in U.S. history rocked the area between December 1811 and January 1812, temblors so powerful that they caused the Mississippi River to run backward for a time.

Earthquake experts have said there is a 25 percent to 40 percent chance of a magnitude 6.0 earthquake along the New Madrid Fault over the next 50 years.

The field hearing will be Friday at 9 a.m. at the J.C. Penney Conference Center at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. A similar hearing is taking place in Los Angeles on Thursday to address an earthquake on the West Coast.

The panel is chaired by Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., a member of the Katrina Commission which released its findings this week on the problems in the response to Hurricane Katrina.