Emerson, Talent call for earthquake readiness drill

The Department of Homeland Security needs to conduct a region-wide earthquake drill, U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and U.S. Sen. Jim Talent said in a joint news release Wednesday.

Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, and Talent, R-Mo., called for such a drill in a letter to department secretary Michael Chertoff. The exercise should include an extensive review of plans to respond to a major quake on the New Madrid Fault and field tests of those plans, the lawmakers said.

"Hurricane Katrina pointed out the vast deficiencies we have in emergency response in the nation at both the state and the federal level," Emerson said. "We have got to make sure a difficult situation isn't met with an inadequate response."

The New Madrid Fault erupted with a series of major quakes in the winter of 1811-1812. In the Missouri Bootheel, water shot out of the ground as shifting sand settled and put pressure on the water table below. The Mississippi River ran backwards, ground in western Tennessee rose to create Reelfoot Lake and homes toppled as far away as Louisville, Ky. Church bells rang in Boston.

Smaller but serious quakes have been reported several times in the years since. Quakes that cannot be felt except by instruments occur almost every week.

Area emergency planners believe they are as prepared as possible, but warn that many people would have to rely upon themselves for up to 72 hours after a major earthquake.

A quake along the New Madrid Fault would isolate many communities by crippling much of the area's transportation, Emerson and Talent wrote in their letter to Chertoff. Many roads and bridges would become useless and railroads would be disrupted, they wrote.

Pipelines supplying gasoline and natural gas could be ruptured, disrupting vital energy supplies, Emerson and Talent warned.

Hurricanes hit the coast with plenty of warning, Emerson said in an interview. And major river floods, such as those of 1993 and 1995, can take weeks to build up.

But earthquakes hit without warning. The first of the New Madrid tremors occurred about 3 a.m. in December 1811.

"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," Talent said.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there is a 5 percent chance of a quake equal to the 1811-1812 event during the next 20 years. The chances of a quake that is smaller, but still able to cause significant damage, is about 90 percent by 2040, Talent and Emerson said.

The worst damage would be concentrated around the center of the quake in the Bootheel and western Tennessee and Kentucky. But Cape Girardeau could experience major problems, as could Memphis, Tenn. and St. Louis.

Emerson said she expects a response quickly for the call to hold the preparedness exercise. She wants it to occur sometime in the next year.

The House version of the budget for homeland security includes $20 million for such exercises, she said. The final version must be worked out in conference with the Senate, she said. Emerson is a member of the conference committee and will work to ensure it stays in the budget, she said.