00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 It isn't as common,
00:06 but earthquakes do happen outside the Pacific Northwest
00:10 and history has shown they can be powerful.
00:12 The more pessimistic people are convinced
00:14 it's gonna happen sooner rather than later in their lifetime
00:17 and then some others just say, yeah, that'll happen,
00:19 but it'll be long after I'm gone.
00:21 Millions of people live inside the New Madrid seismic zone,
00:25 which stretches from Illinois to Arkansas.
00:27 The zone is named after a Missouri town
00:29 destroyed by a series of large earthquakes in 1811 and 1812.
00:34 It's been over 200 years
00:36 since the region has seen that kind of activity,
00:39 but some scientists believe there's a 10% chance
00:41 for a magnitude seven or eight earthquake
00:44 in the next 50 years.
00:46 It's why state and local officials in Missouri
00:48 have formed a committee focused on earthquake preparedness.
00:51 So what we need to do is remind people of the history
00:54 and remind people of the science
00:56 of what's going on underground here
00:59 because when a big one does hit,
01:00 it's gonna be the biggest natural disaster
01:03 the state has ever seen.
01:04 There are some challenges.
01:06 One is public perception.
01:07 We see flooding frequently.
01:09 We see a lot of winter weather
01:11 and we see tornadoes from time to time.
01:13 Those are all more front of mind
01:15 for people in this part of the country.
01:17 So since they have, a lot of them
01:18 have lived their whole lives
01:20 and they've never lived through a big earthquake.
01:22 And so it's certainly a challenge
01:24 to get people to pay attention
01:25 to something that they haven't felt themselves.
01:28 Another, most properties in the Midwest
01:31 weren't built to handle shaking.
01:33 In Southeast Missouri,
01:34 there are thousands of older
01:36 unreinforced masonry buildings.
01:38 That's part of the challenge.
01:39 We wanna let people know
01:41 that if you're in this sort of building,
01:44 be ready and be thinking about things you can do
01:46 to perhaps reinforce your building.
01:49 Experts say, whether you are inside or outside,
01:51 remembering to drop, cover and hold
01:53 can help reduce injuries during an earthquake.
01:56 It's also important to have a plan.
01:58 A lot of the things, whether it's having supplies
02:01 and having a plan to reconcile with your family,
02:05 how you would communicate with them
02:06 if all the cell phones were down,
02:08 where a meeting place would be.
02:10 And things along that line
02:12 carry through all types of disasters.
02:16 Every five years, the committee plans to update
02:18 how the state would respond to a large earthquake.
02:21 That includes planning for shelter and immediate care.
02:24 For AccuWeather, I'm Emmy Victor.
02:26 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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