Missouri Prepares for its Own Katrina

After the three earthquakes that struck southeast Missouri in 1811 and 1812, there were reports of church bells ringing in Boston and the Mississippi River flowing backwards. The same fault that caused those quakes – the New Madrid Fault – is still a threat, one that State Emergency Management Agency director Paul Parmenter says is Missouri’s Katrina.

In an article on the Chicago Tribune website, Betsy Taylor says Parmenter spoke last Wednesday to about 250 mass care professionals at a two-day conference in St. Louis. Delegates discussed how they would respond to a catastrophic quake along the fault, which could displace hundreds of thousands of people.

A strong quake in the Midwest could cause damage in several central states. The New Madrid fault runs through parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky, said seismologist Robert Hermann of Saint Louis University.

To read the full Chicago Tribune article, click here:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-mo-earthquakeconfere,0,5747908.story