BETTER TO PREPARE FOR QUAKES, DISASTERS

Shake, rattle and roll. In the last decade, earthquake preparedness has come to the forefront, but not always in a positive light.

Who could forget the mania that surrounded the late Iben Browning's prediction of a major earthquake in December 1990? It turned into a national media circus. The unfortunate side effect was that when the date came and went, people suddenly put earthquake preparedness out of mind.

The reality of earthquake should be practical awareness and preparedness. There's no need for panic or apathy.

A group of scientists at the University of Memphis Center for Earthquake Research and Information has been quietly studying and preparing for a major quake. This Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium involves emergency management directors in Arkansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. These states would be directly affected by a major quake along the New Madrid Fault, which runs 125 miles from southern Indiana to central Arkansas.

A number of these experts feel a major earthquake could strike in the next 50 years. "Could" remains the operative word.

No one can predict an earthquake. We've certainly learned a lesson from that 1990 fiasco. But preparing for a quake -- by strengthening building codes and disaster reaction plans -- can help in the wake of such a disaster. Several states are upgrading roadways and bridges to make them more earthquake resistant.

Earthquakes are fairly common in the central United States, where an estimated 150 small earthquakes tremble each year. Most are too small to feel, but they help let off the steam of a much larger quake.

Experts point to the winter of 1812, when three quakes estimated at 8.4 and above on the Richter scale destroyed the town of New Madrid and rang church bells in Boston. It even reversed the flow of the Mississippi River for a short period of time. These are considered the most powerful quakes in North American history.

That history is important in planning for the future. But it no guarantee that a repeat of these killer quakes is imminent.

Southern California deals with the threat of earthquakes on a more regular basis, and that state's residents seem to take it in stride.

Who's to say other natural disasters aren't more likely to occur? We live in tornado alley and next to the Mississippi, which is prone to flooding. Sometimes even natural disasters seem to dim in the face of human violence and destruction.

Unfortunately there is no Garden of Eden, no haven completely safe from all the world's woes. The region needs to prepare for a major earthquake with pragmatism. By working together, the region can be ready to act if disaster strikes.