Earthquake preparedness

 Today I am going to bore you with an item I find fascinating and scary.

Moving back to Cape Girardeau means I am not only still in tornado country, but also smack dab in the middle of earthquake country. The New Madrid fault zone is over here on this side of the state.

I've never been in a big earthquake, but I remember one in kindergarten. Grandma Ettling babysat me in the morning (I had afternoon kindergarten) and I thought she was passing gas but it was an earthquake. The tectonic plates were moving. We ran and stood in the doorway like they teach in school.

I've always been told that we're overdue for an earthquake. I didn't realize just how overdue until I read this information.The last big earthquake was in 1895 and they typically occur every 70 years +/- 15 years. We should have had a "big one" by 1980 at the latest. It's 2012.

These photos are part of our disaster preparedness manual at work. As a City employee, after a natural disaster I'm expected to take care of my family first and then come to town and help evaluate structures for their safety.

There's also a section in the manual on what to do to prepare for an earthquake. When we were relocating offices a couple weeks ago we came across an earthquake kit that was full of bottled water, flashlights, batteries, Sharpies and other things. There's even a list of items you should have in an emergency kit in your car, at all times. Guess I need to work on that!

Tweet

Pin It