Myers readies for Earthquake Preparedness Month and nationwide conference

March is Earthquake Preparedness Month. It’s also time for the largest New Madrid Seismic Zone conference in the nation, the Seventh Annual Earthquake Summit.

“At the very least, people need to know what to do and how to react in the event of an earthquake,” Butler County Emergency Management Director Robbie Myers said. “When you feel the ground starting to shake, drop and cover your neck. If you can, get under a table and hope that everything passes quickly.”

Myers said it is important for people to educate themselves about earthquakes, considering the close proximity the area has to the New Madrid fault line.

“Knowing to have your house prepared with medical supplies and food is a really important thing,” Myers remarked. “Basically, each home should have enough on hand to keep themselves supplied with food, water, and medical supplies for at least two weeks.”

Myers went on to explain that Butler County is to the west of the fault line, which gives the area a more favorable outcome should the fault line go.

“The bottom line is: if the fault line goes out completely, we don’t know exactly what the impact will be locally, but it will likely be pretty devastating the closer you get to the fault line,” Myers noted. “Understanding what the land is like and where the safe spots are, can help people make good decisions regarding preparation.”

Largest of its kind

Myers went on to explain that he and numerous other entities have recognized the severe risks that go along with the New Madrid fault line. That recognition led to the formation of a large annual meeting specifically about that very subject.

“It’s the largest meeting of its kind in the whole nation. We’ve held the meeting at a different location every year,” Myers said. “The meeting this year will be at the Osage Center. So far we have 450 people registered for the meeting and we’re expecting more people to register.”

The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 18.

“It isn’t so much a public information campaign as it is a meeting of agencies that would be involved with responding to the area in the event of an earthquake.”

Myers also explained the need for preparedness has a lot to do with the inability to predict earthquakes.

“In California, they have instruments that can detect disruptions starting in the ocean, but that’s only moments before an earthquake,” Myers noted. “And that technology does nothing for us here in Missouri. We have no way of predicting when an earthquake could hit. That is why it’s so important for people to be ready to go at any time. Hopefully, in the future, there will be ways to make accurate predictions. But that technology doesn’t exist right now.”