WASHINGTON  -  U.S. Representative Jo Ann Emerson (MO-08) and U.S. Senator Jim Talent today asked Michael Chertoff, Director of the Department of Homeland Security, to coordinate emergency response exercises in areas that could be affected by an earthquake along the New Madrid Fault Zone.  The New Madrid Fault system includes portions of Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas, and it has produced the largest earthquakes in North America.

 

“We have learned the lessons of hurricane season well, and we need to apply this knowledge to all kinds of natural disasters, especially earthquakes.  Preparedness is key to surviving a large-scale catastrophe.  Millions of people and miles of vital infrastructure exist right on top of this fault line.  It is no excuse that an earthquake cannot be forecast like a hurricane – we are long overdue for a major seismic event on the New Madrid Fault,” Emerson said.  “We need a comprehensive test of our communications systems, rescue and recovery operations, and our evacuation plans for schools, hospitals and nursing homes.  Every vital function of the federal, state, and local response to a catastrophic earthquake must be tested.  It is impossible to test our
response under real conditions, when it is too late to identify weaknesses.  We must do that now so we will not be caught off-guard in the event of a major earthquake, when there are plenty of other things to worry about.”

 

“One of the lessons of the hurricanes is the clear need for local, state and federal responders to train together to be better prepared in the event of a disaster that requires widespread relief efforts,” said Talent. “A major earthquake is no time for on-the-job training. We need to make certain through these exercises that our local, state and federal response teams are prepared, to the fullest extent possible, to protect lives and relieve human suffering in the event of a major earthquake.”

 

Forecasters place a 90 percent probability on the event of an earthquake greater than 6.0 on the Richter scale striking the fault system before 2040.  Four catastrophic earthquakes, measuring greater than 7.0, occurred during a three-month period in 1811 and 1812.  Emerson and Talent noted that the effects of a similar earthquake today would be devastating. 

 

 

A copy of the letter is attached below:

 

 

Dear Secretary Chertoff:

 

 

In light of the recent devastation and loss of life caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,
we are writing today to request that the Department of Homeland Security within the next year conduct a coordinated exercise to help state, local, and federal government agencies plan and prepare for a major earthquake event along the New Madrid Seismic Zone.  We have learned many lessons about emergency response in the past several weeks, the most important of which is that preparedness is key for disasters of this magnitude.

 

As you are well aware, between December of 1811 and January of 1812, the most
powerful recorded earthquakes to ever hit the North American Continent occurred along the New Madrid Fault.  Although the region was sparsely populated at the time, the damage to structures and the change in the very topography of the land, affecting river flows, were unimaginable. Settlements were swallowed whole by the event, and hundreds were killed or displaced.  The series of quakes was felt from St. Louis to New Orleans and rang church bells in Boston.

 

A similar earthquake measuring 8.0 or 9.0 on the Richter scale would, without warning,
devastate the region.  Major interstate arteries, including I-55, I-57, I-24 and I-40, would become impassable from St. Louis to Memphis and beyond.  Major bridges across the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers would likely collapse, as they were not designed for this level of seismic event.  The impact would not be limited to highway transportation; it would extend to pipelines, barge traffic, and a railroad network which serves nearly 40 percent of the U.S. population. Electricity infrastructure, cellular communications towers and normal communications systems would be inoperable.  Particularly hard hit, depending upon the epicenter of the earthquake, would be Memphis, Tennessee – which was merely a trading post in 1811.

 

The number of lives lost and people displaced would likely number in the millions.
Liquefaction (the turning of delta land to an unstable, shifting soil mass) would destroy homes, businesses, and much of the region’s infrastructure.  Emergency responders would have limited access to the impact area for days, if not weeks, when the need for medical evacuations would be most acute.  The burden on local first responders located within the impact area would be enormous.

 

Given recent events, we request that this exercise of our emergency preparedness
apparatus from local to state to federal be enacted as soon as possible.  We would suggest further that within the next year a scenario be examined with a major earthquake when the Ohio, Missouri and Mississippi Rivers are at flood stages, adding yet another important element to the exercise which should be reviewed and analyzed.

 

 

We appreciate your earliest consideration of this request.

 

 

                                                                Sincerely,

 JO ANN EMERSON                                                                             JAMES M. TALENT
 Member of Congress                                                                          United States Senator