Friday, February 5, 2010
Earthquake preparation was the topic of discussion at a seminar on St. Louis University's campus on Friday.
During a tour of SLU's Earthquake Center, Data Technician Melanie Whittington shows a group the Haiti earthquake on the seismogram.
Groups touring the Earthquake Center view a seismograph and other equipment used to measure ground movement.
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The 16th annual “Earthquakes Mean Business” free seminar drew a crowd of over 275 people to the event that originally started meeting once a year to allow businesses to discuss the risk of earthquakes in the area.
Over the years the event has grown into a public outreach offering of the geoscience, engineering and emergency management communities.
“One of the main things is having people come out and learn what the earthquake threat is,”Steve Besemer, earthquake program manager for state emergency management agency said. “We want people to have an understanding about the geology and reasoning behind them.”
Attendees to the seminar participated in a series of morning presentations and workshops focused on strategies and tactics that can be used in both business and homes to become better prepared should an earthquake occur again in this region.
Besemer suggests families look around houses and secure or mount bookshelves or anything that could fall and injure a family member.
He also suggests forming a family disaster plan and setting up a meeting spot and out of state contact.
“Choose someone out of state so if the phones go down, everyone knows to call Uncle Harry out of state,” he said,
Keeping an emergency kit handy, equipped with first aid, cash and four to five days worth of food will is also a good idea, Besemer said.
“Assume you would not be able to get out to get these things for four to five days--what would you need?” he said.
According to the Department of Public Safety’s catastrophe plan, emergency kits should contain enough to keep individuals going on their own for 96 hours in case help is blocked from reaching them.
Besemer said the earthquake seminar is a tool to get people thinking.
“We want people to think about it and not be scared or worried, but understand the threat and think about what they can do to prepare when it happens,” he said.
The seminar follows just weeks after the seven magnitude earthquake that caused mass destruction in Haiti.
Besemer said getting help through to cities that are in need is one challenge Haiti has experienced that could happen anywhere an earthquake hits.
“As we see in certain situations like Hurricane Katrina and large earthquakes like the one in Haiti, the local, state and federal government are going to do what they can, but people at home and in business need to have some sort of self sufficiency,” Besemer said.
The most recent significant earthquake in this area occurred back on April 18, 2008. It was centered in southeastern Illinois, five miles from the town of Bellmont. The quake measured 5.2 in magnitude on the Richter scale.
February is Missouri Earthquake Awarness Month because Feb. 7, 1812 marks the strongest earthquake ever felt in North America.
“Some people think we’re kind of overdue in that range,“ Michael Fix, a geology professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis said.
But he said he doesn’t think there’s a high probability of a seven or eight magnitude happening anytime soon in the Midwest.
“There’s no absolute certainty, but based on how often it happened in the past, it could be 500 or 600 years away--but it doesn’t work like clockwork.”
Besemer agreed.
“It happens and you don’t really get a warning or really anytime to prepare.”
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