Area residents have become all too familiar with the ferocity of nature. Recent storms produced tornadoes, high winds, heavy rains and flooding that have tested the patience and mettle of all. Still, the sort of weather that has plagued the region is a surprise only because of its pervasiveness and severity. Storms are a staple of the season, and most everyone heeds forecasts and warnings and prepares for them as best they can. It’s much more difficult to deal with earthquakes, perhaps nature’s most frightening phenomenon. An event scheduled next week is designed to provide some help.
Schools, colleges and universities in the central United States – including Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama – will participate Thursday at 10:15 a.m. CDT in the “Great Central U.S. ShakeOut,” a drill designed to help individuals, institutions and communities prepare for an earthquake. The project makes sense in a region where quakes are relatively rare, but still a dangerous possibility.
Jointly sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Education, the event is the first multistate drill of its type and the first earthquake drill in the region that likely would be affected by a quake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone that touches West Tennessee. A quake there could impact eastern parts of the state. The date of the drill was not picked at random. It coincides with 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes, the worst or among the worst in U.S. history.
The drill is designed to provide information and to teach skills that could be helpful in the event of unpredictable and thus extremely dangerous temblors. Recent quakes in Japan, Chile, New Zealand and Haiti underscore the need for preparedness.
At this writing, at least 195 schools or school districts in Tennessee – including Hamilton County – and thousands more in other states have agreed to join in the drill. More than 2 million individuals will participate. Such involvement is welcome. It’s far better to learn about earthquake preparedness and never have to use the information than to need the information in a crisis and to never have learned it.