Quake preparedness is still the key

Southeast Missouri State University quietly closed its 13-year-old Center for Earthquake Studies at the end of October, another victim of cuts in state funding for higher education. But the news isn't likely to upset very many Southeast Missouri residents, regardless of their proximity to the New Madrid Fault.

By the last director's own admission, previous budget cuts had all but eliminated his time to handle the duties of managing the earthquake center. The university's seismograph had fallen into disrepair, meaning the university no longer could measure the intensity of earthquakes even before a radiation spill forced the university to remove the contaminated equipment last year.

Technological advances make it possible to monitor earthquakes from almost anywhere in the world. The magnitude 5 earthquake that was felt in Southeast Missouria last June was measured in Memphis and in places as far off as New England. There appear to be little practical need to have a monitoring system sitting right on top of a fault.

All of those factors were obviously taken into consideration as the decision was made to close the earthquake center after the state cut the last $25,000 of funding.

The closing of the center is also easier to take because the center's main emphasis -- earthquake preparedness and education -- will continue, but under a different, more cost effective format. Next Tuesday, the Missouri Seismic Safety Commission will conduct a seminar on earthquake preparedness for businesses from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the Osage Community Centre in Cape Girardeau.

Tuesday's seminar won't be a one-time effort for earthquake preparedness. The area will still have local emergency management directors and State Emergency Management Agency staff available to give presentations to civic clubs and schoolchildren. The state agency is looking to enlist retired school principal Jim Watkins to make presentations to school staff in the region. Watkins should be able to provide a valuable service at a fraction of the cost.

It's been a long time since Iben Browning achieved international notoriety by predicting a major earthquake that didn't happen. But that doesn't mean it won't happen someday. Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey in Memphis released revised New Madrid Fault probabilities recently that say there is a 7 to 10 percent chance for a devastating earthquake within 50 years and a 25 to 40 percent of a magnitude 6 earthquake within the next 50 years.

Those earthquakes could lead to damaged property or a loss of life and undoubtedly would. But Southeast Missourians should rest assured that the best way to prepare for an earthquake is simple: Be prepared. And that can still be done, even without the earthquake center.