Welcome
from the Director
Welcome to our newly
redesigned website. Our new site covers everything from
basic earthquake safety and mitigation issues, to a calendar of events
and the science behind this region's seismicity. We want to have
a site that is informative and easy to navigate and welcome
any comments that you might have. We are always looking for ways to
improve our site and we welcome your feedback. Thanks for visiting...
Launched in 2006, the mission of the New Madrid Seismic Zone Catastrophic Planning Project is to increase national readiness for a catastrophic earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ). This multi-year, multi-agency initiative is the largest planning effort ever undertaken in United States History. Specifically, national readiness will be increased by developing a series of annexes or supplements to existing base plans for response and recovery to a series of major earthquakes in the NMSZ and integrating them into a single document with federal, regional, tribal, state, and local components. Additionally, the mission is to identify any issues that can not be resolved based on current capabilities and to propose recommended courses of action for decision makers involved in this project. The project is expected to culminate in 2011 with a series of major command exercises, coinciding with the 200th Anniversary of the 1811-1812 earthquakes.
HAZUS-MH Update Available June 2009 - FEMA announced the availability of HAZUS-MH MR3 Patch 3 recently. The new patch allows for several enhancements and updates to the earthquake model, including new calculations for relocation losses and user supplied liquefaction maps. HAZUS-MH is FEMA's multi-hazard loss estimation software that is used for both mitigation and emergency response planning. More on the patch can be found by reading the release notes. The HAZUS home page can be found by clicking here.
CUSEC Welcomes New Associate State Member
April 2009 - CUSEC is pleased to announce that Kansas has been voted in as the tenth associate member state by the CUSEC Board of Directors. This addition comes at the request of Major General, Tod Bunting, State Director of the Kansas Division of Emergency Management (KEM). In a letter to the CUSEC Board of Directors, Director Bunting stated that Kansas is actively planning with their neighboring state, Missouri—which faces the constant threat of a New Madrid seismic event—to be ready to provide various resources in the event of a damaging earthquake in the central US. These resources will include shipment of equipment, and the housing of disaster victims in congregate care shelters. Kansas has a long-time reputation for assisting other states across the country in times of disaster. In 2005, the state deployed Kansans to the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. Prior to that, Kansas personnel were sent to New York post 9/11 to assist with donations management. Most recently—in 2008— KEM personnel went to Iowa to assist with flood recovery. Please join us in welcoming Kansas as the newest associate state member of the CUSEC organization.
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