Earthquake Scenario

Around the world every year…

Many Natural Disasters will occur.

Last Year

The United States witnessed it’s Share…• Super Tornado Outbreak April 25-28, 2011

• Mississippi River Floods April and May 2011

• Joplin, Missouri EF-5 Tornado May 22, 2011

• Texas, New Mexico & Arizona Wildfires 2011

• Virginia 5.8 Earthquake August 23, 2011

• Hurricane Irene August 24-30, 2011

Super Tornado OutbreakApril 25-28, 2011

•In total, 359 tornadoes were confirmed by the National Weather Service in 21 states.

•On each day of the outbreak widespread and destructive tornadoes occurred.

•April 27 being among the most prolific and destructive tornado days in United States history; a record 208 tornadoes touched down.

Super Tornado OutbreakApril 25-28, 2011

•Four of the tornadoes were destructive enough to be rated EF-5.

•The most destructive tornadoes occurred across Alabama and Mississippi.

346 people were killed as a result of the outbreak.

Estimated Damage - $11 Billion

Mississippi River Floods April and May 2011

•The Mississippi River floods in April and May 2011 were among the largest and most damaging recorded along the waterway in the past century.

• In April, several major storm systems deposited record levels of rainfall on the Mississippi River watershed. When that additional water combined with the springtime snowmelt, the river and many of its tributaries began to swell to record levels by the beginning of May.

•This created the perfect situation for a 500-year flood along the Mississippi.


• May 3, the Army Corps of Engineers blasted the levee protecting the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway in an effort to save the town of Cairo, Illinois and the rest of the levee system.• 200 residents in Missouri were forced to evacuate after a court order approved the Corps plan.•May 14, the Corps opened the Morganza Spillway diverting flood waters away from Baton Rouge and New Orleans. •The tradeoff was flooding the Atchafalaya Basin.• 2,500 people and 2,000 structures were directly impacted.• 22,500 people and 11,000 homes, businesses and other structures were in-directly impacted in the backwaters. • Many agricultural crops were destroyed.•The Morganza Spillway remained open until July 7.


•On May 10, the river reached 47.8 feet, the highest level reached at Memphis since 1937.

•The neighborhood of Harbor Town, in Downtown Memphis, evacuated.

• Many local rivers spilled their banks, including Big Creek, the Loosahatchie River, and the Wolf River along with Nonconnah Creek.

•Subsequent flooding occurred in Millington, as well as suburban areas of Frayser, Bartlett, and East Memphis.

Transportation was affected in Memphis during the height of flooding…

•On May 5 a 23 mile stretch of I-40 closed at Brinkley AR due to flooding from the White River. The closure lasted 4 days.•Also on May 5th the Coast Guard closed river traffic North of Memphis for safety concerns.•East & West rail traffic over the Mississippi was halted. •General DeWitt Spain Airport was closed due to flooding.•Numerous roads in low lying areas of the city were closed.

Joplin, Missouri EF-5 Tornado May 22, 2011

•EF-5 multiple-vortex tornado struck Joplin, Missouri in the late afternoon of Sunday, May 22, 2011.

•According to the National Weather Service, emergency managers reported damage to 75% of Joplin.

•In total, nearly 7,000 houses were destroyed and over 850 others were damaged.


•Six people were killed when St. John's Hospital was struck by the tornado.• Five of those deaths were patients who died after the building lost power and a backup generator did not work.

• Communications were lost in the community and power was knocked out to many areas•With communications down, temporary cell towers had to be constructed.


•The Missouri Emergency Management Agency reported more than 990 injured.

•Fatalities 160•Estimated Damage

$3 billion.

Texas, New Mexico, Arizona Wildfires 2011•Continued drought and periods of extreme heat set the stage for a series of historic wildfires across Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

•The Bastrop Fire in Texas was the most destructive fire in Texas history, destroying more than 1,500 homes.

•The Wallow Fire consumed more than 500,000 acres in Arizona making it the largest on record in Arizona.

•The Las Conchas Fire in New Mexico was also the state’s largest wildfire on record, scorching more than 150,000 acres while threatening the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Texas, New Mexico, Arizona Wildfires 2011

•Firefighters from more than forty-three states were involved in the operation to combat the fires. •Two firefighters were killed.

•In total, more than 3 million acres burned across Texas.

• There were at least 5 related fatalities.

•Total damage in Texas •$750 million.

•Losses across all three states •$1 billion.

Virginia 5.8 Earthquake August 23, 2011

•The quake was felt across more than a dozen U.S. states. •Tremors were felt as far south as Atlanta, Georgia and as far west as Illinois with damage reported in Brooklyn, NY.

•New York: Tremors were felt to varying degrees. •There were some disruptions, including building evacuations and delays at airports.

•Amtrak train service at Penn Station was delayed.

Virginia 5.8 Earthquake August 23, 2011•Soon after the earthquake, the F.A.A. ordered a ground stop along the East Coast, causing flight delays.

•A spike in cell-phone calls immediately after the event congested the Cellular networks in the Mid-Atlantic region, causing disruptions and loss of service for up to an hour after the earthquake.

•Washington, D.C. : The White House, the Capitol, and various other buildings were evacuated.

Virginia 5.8 Earthquake August 23, 2011•Transportation was affected while traffic lights where out and commuter train tracks and tunnels were inspected.• National Park Service reported damage to the Washington Monument and was closed indefinitely.•The quake damaged the Washington National Cathedral.•No deaths and only minor injuries were reported. Minor damage to buildings was widespread. •Estimated Damage

• $200-$300 million.

Hurricane Irene August 24-30, 2011

•Over 65 million people were estimated to be at risk.

•Due to the threat, state officials, as well as utilities, transportation facilities, ports, industries, oil refineries, and nuclear power plants, promptly prepared to activate emergency plans.•Residents in the region stocked up on food supplies and worked to secure homes, vehicles and boats.•States of emergency and hurricane warnings were declared for much of the East Coast.•In advance of the storm, thousands of people near coastal areas evacuated and hundreds of shelters were prepared.

Hurricane IreneAugust 24-30, 2011

•The Governor of New York declared a state of emergency urging the Office of Emergency Management to prepare for a possible landfall or direct hit from Irene.

•Accordingly, a mandatory evacuation order for low-lying areas of New York City was issued.

• The Governor also ordered the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops to assist police in NYC.

Hurricane IreneAugust 24-30, 2011

• Winds, combined with soil saturation, uprooted trees and power lines along the storm's path.

• Roughly 7.4 million homes and businesses lost electrical power.

•Coastal areas suffered extensive flood damage following the storm surge.

• In the northeastern region, more than ten rivers measured record flood heights.

•Irene is estimated to have caused over $7 billion in damage and at least 47 deaths.

Today, many of these U.S. communities are still struggling to recover.

Earthquakes are among the World’s Most Devastating Natural Disasters.

Earthquakes Occur in Every Region of the World.

Earthquakes occur with No Warning.

The most damaging effects resulting from Earthquakes...

• Shaking and Ground Rupture• Landslides and Avalanches• Fires • Soil Liquefaction • Tsunami • Floods• Human Impacts

EARTHQUAKE HAZARDShaking and Ground Rupture

•Shaking and Ground Rupture are the main effects that result in damage to buildings and other rigid structures.

• The severity depends on the combination of earthquake magnitude, the distance from the epicenter, and the local geological conditions.

EARTHQUAKE HAZARDLandslides and Avalanches

•Earthquakes can produce slope instability leading to landslides, a major geological hazard.

•Landslide danger may persist while emergency personnel are attempting rescue.

EARTHQUAKE HAZARDFIRES

•Earthquakes can cause fires by damaging electrical power or gas lines.

• In the event water mains rupture and lose pressure, it may also become difficult to stop the spread of a fire once it has started.

•For example, more deaths in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake were caused by fire than by the earthquake itself.

EARTHQUAKE HAZARDSoil Liquefaction •Soil liquefaction occurs when, because of the shaking, water-saturated granular material temporarily loses its strength and transforms from a solid to a liquid.

•Soil liquefaction may cause rigid structures, like buildings and bridges, to tilt or sink into the liquefied deposits.

•This can be a devastating effect of earthquakes.

• For example, in the 1964 Alaska earthquake, soil liquefaction caused many buildings to sink into the ground, eventually collapsing upon themselves.

EARTHQUAKE HAZARDTsunami

•Tsunamis are long-wavelength, long-period sea waves produced by the sudden or abrupt movement of large volumes of water.

•Large waves produced by an earthquake or a submarine landslide can overrun nearby coastal areas in a matter of minutes.

•Tsunamis can also travel thousands of miles across open ocean and wreak destruction on far shores hours after the earthquake that generated them.

EARTHQUAKE HAZARDFloods

•Floods may be secondary effects of earthquakes, if dams are damaged.

•Earthquakes may also cause landslips to dam rivers, which collapse and cause floods.

EARTHQUAKE HAZARDHuman Impacts

•An earthquake may cause injury and loss of life.•Road and Bridge damage.•General property damage, and collapse or destabilization of buildings.•Utility infrastructure such as electricity, water, gas and sewer maybe heavily damaged. •The aftermath may bring illness and disease from lack of basic necessities.

Scientists cannot predict when the next Earthquake will happen…

Scientists can, based upon historical records and geological data, estimate the probability of recurrence.

U.S. Geological Survey Statement

• Memphis has a dense urban population near faults capable of producing major earthquakes.

• Memphis lies within the New Madrid seismic zone, which is the most seismically active and well-studied region in the Central and Eastern U.S.

• A high probability of a moderate earthquake in the near future (e.g., a 25-40% probability of a magnitude 6.0 or greater in the next 50 years), and relatively low regional attenuation (in other words, seismic waves do damage over a greater area in this region than for the same magnitude earthquake in the west).

Source:U.S. Geological Survey

The USGS is a science organization that provides impartial information on the health of our ecosystems and environment, thenatural hazards that threaten us, the natural resources we rely on, the impacts of climate and land-use change, and the corescience systems that help us provide timely, relevant, and useable information. MissionThe USGS serves the Nation by providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of lifeand property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect ourquality of life.

Earthquake ScenarioGreater Memphis Chamber

Memphis TNFebruary 7, 2012

FLASH BACK

WINTER 1811-1812200 YEARS AGO

Winter 1811-1812• Several of the largest historical earthquakes to strike the continental United States occurred

in the winter of 1811-1812 along the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which stretches from just west of Memphis, Tennessee into southern Illinois.

• These earthquakes produced three major temblors between magnitude 7-8, with hundreds of aftershocks lasting into 1813.

Historic New Madrid Earthquake

• From Dec. 16, 1811 to Feb. 7, 1812 our region was rocked by three of the largest earthquakes ever to hit the continental United States.

• December 16, 1811 - Magnitude ~7.7• January 23, 1812 - Magnitude ~ 7.5• February 7, 1812 - Magnitude ~ 7.7

• These quakes were felt widely over the entire eastern United States. • In the epicentral area the ground surface was described as in great convulsion with sand and

water ejected into the air (liquefaction). • Reports state the area was characterized by general ground warping, ejections, fissuring,

severe landslides, and caving of stream banks. • Several destructive shocks occurred on February 7, 1812, the last of which equaled or

surpassed the magnitude of any previous event. • The town of New Madrid was destroyed.

Historic New Madrid Earthquake• The region most seriously affected was characterized by raised or sunken lands, fissures, sinks, sand

blows, and large landslides that covered an area extending from Cairo, IL, to Memphis and from Crowley's Ridge in Arkansas to the Chickasaw Bluffs in Tennessee.

• Large areas of land were uplifted permanently; and still larger areas sank and were covered with water that erupted through fissures. – Reelfoot Lake was formed during the February 7, 1812 earthquake.

• The earthquakes altered the flow of the Mississippi River.

• Banks along the Mississippi collapsed into the river; sand bars and islands gave way, whole islands disappeared.

• Large waves were generated on the Mississippi River. The waves overwhelmed many boats and washed others onto the shore. Local uplifts of the ground and water waves moving upstream gave the illusion the river was flowing upstream.

• Only one life was reported lost in falling buildings at New Madrid, but chimneys were toppled and log cabins were thrown down as far distant as Cincinnati and in many places in Kentucky and Tennessee.

• In 1811-1812 this region was sparsely populated. – The land west of the Mississippi River was known only as - The Louisiana Territory.

FAST FORWARD 200 YEARS

FEBUARY 7, 2012Given the tremendous growth in population, infrastructure and structures in this region since the early 1800s, a modern-day earthquake has the potential to inflict considerable physical damage and mass casualties in our state and region.

2012 Population New Madrid Seismic Zone Region

Scenario Setting• Memphis, Tennessee• 10:15am Tuesday, February 7, 2012• Greater Memphis Chamber Office • 11 Story Historic Falls Building, 22 N Front Street• 7.7 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes• Epicenter New Madrid, MO

The Event• Without Warning and within seconds the Chamber’s office building is violently

shaking.• Thunderous roaring can be heard as the shock waves pass beneath the building.• Unsecured bookcases and file cabinets topple over.• Ceiling tiles and light fixtures begin to fall. Dust from falling debris fills the

office.• Lights begin to flicker then the electricity fails; computers go down, telephone

and lights go out.• The smell of smoldering electric wire fills the air.• As the Falls Building absorbs the shock, the cracking of concrete supports and

the breaking of glass windows can be heard along with the crashing sound of the exterior brick façade smashing to the ground.

• The violent shaking lasts over one minute.• As the Earthquake subsides the Falls Building remains standing although many

staff members are injured or trapped.

The Emergency Response• Immediately following the Earthquake, emergency first responders are quickly overwhelmed

with multiple calls for Medical, Fire and Police. • Damage to transportation infrastructure hinders their response further.

• The Greater Memphis Chamber is fortunate; It’s staff knew what do in the event of an Earthquake.

• The Chamber also has emergency supplies on-hand, and half its staff trained in CERT and Basic First Aid.

• While only trained as volunteers, the staff’s knowledge, skills and leadership will prove to be invaluable immediately following the disaster.

• Several staff members are trapped or missing and many injuries are reported but, No Fatalities to the Chamber Staff.

Hold On, We’re Coming…

CERT Exercise Begins











Business

Earthquake Scenario