Earthquake Drills: Cover-up Showing Their Hand?

woops, here's the rest

Wyoming’s Department of Homeland Security already has a statewide crisis management plan, but it doesn’t cover what the state should do in the event of an extreme nationwide political or economic collapse. In recent years, lawmakers in at least six states have introduced legislation to create a state currency, all unsuccessfully.

The task force would include state lawmakers, the director of the Wyoming Department of Homeland Security, the Wyoming attorney general and the Wyoming National Guard’s adjutant general, among others.

The bill must pass two more House votes before it would head to the Senate for consideration. The original bill appropriated $32,000 for the task force, though the Joint Appropriations Committee slashed that number in half earlier this week.

University of Wyoming political science professor Jim King said the potential for a complete unraveling of the U.S. government and economy is “astronomically remote” in the foreseeable future.

But King noted that the federal government set up a Continuity of Government Commission in 2002, of which former U.S. Sen. Al Simpson, R-Wyo., was co-chairman. However, King said he didn’t know of any states that had established a similar board.

Contact capital bureau reporter Jeremy Pelzer at 307-632-1244 or jeremy.pelzer@trib,com

Wyoming House advances doomsday bill

By JEREMY PELZER Star-Tribune capital bureautrib.com | Posted: Friday, February 24, 2012 6:00 pm | (50) Comments

CHEYENNE — State representatives on Friday advanced legislation to launch a study into what Wyoming should do in the event of a complete economic or political collapse in the United States.

House Bill 85 passed on first reading by a voice vote. It would create a state-run government continuity task force, which would study and prepare Wyoming for potential catastrophes, from disruptions in food and energy supplies to a complete meltdown of the federal government.

The task force would look at the feasibility of

Wyoming issuing its own alternative currency, if needed. And House members approved an amendment Friday by state Rep. Kermit Brown, R-Laramie, to have the task force also examine conditions under which Wyoming would need to implement its own military draft, raise a standing army, and acquire strike aircraft and an aircraft carrier.

The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. David Miller, R-Riverton, has said he doesn’t anticipate any major crises hitting America anytime soon. But with the national debt exceeding $15 trillion and protest movements growing around the country, Miller said Wyoming — which has a comparatively good economy and sound state finances — needs to make sure it’s protected should any unexpected emergency hit the U.S.

Several House members spoke in favor of the legislation, saying there was no harm in preparing for the worst.

“I don’t think there’s anyone in this room today what would come up here and say that this country is in good shape, that the world is stable and in good shape — because that is clearly not the case,” state Rep. Lorraine Quarberg, R-Thermopolis, said. “To put your head in the sand and think that nothing bad’s going to happen, and that we have no obligation to the citizens of the state of Wyoming to at least have the discussion, is not healthy.”

Wyoming’s Department of Homeland Security already has a statewide crisis management plan, but it doesn’t cover what the state should do in the event of an extreme nationw

Comment by Howard on October 18, 2012 at 5:14am: Millions Participate in Largest Ever Earthquake Drill (Oct 17) -

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9615994/...

More than 13 million Americans are expected to clamber under desks and hide beneath tables on Thursday as they take part in the world's largest-ever earthquake drill.

Families from Los Angeles to New York will dive for cover at 10.18am in each timezone as they rehearse what to do in the event of a major quake.

Local radio stations will simulate news announcers warning that a 7.8 magnitude earthquake is about to strike, while ominous rumblings will play in the background.

The en masse rehearsal is being coordinated by Shakeout, a Californian group set up to encourage awareness among people living on the San Andreas fault, a tectonic fault line that runs along the West Coast.

Major earthquakes are expected to strike the same area every 150 years but it has been nearly 300 years since southern California has been hit, prompting fears of a long-overdue quake.

Lance Webster, one of the drill organisers, told the Daily Telegraph: "The natural tendency of people who live in risk areas is to downplay the danger or ignore it. The goal of this is not to frighten people but to give them positive things they can do to prepare and survive."

As well as practicing what to do during the initial tremors, Mr Webster said people should prepare emergency supplies of water in anticipation that a major earthquake would disrupt water pipes and road links.

More than half of the 9 million Californians due to take part are students, as schools and universities along the West Coast practice their safety procedures. Major corporations like Walmart, Target and Bank of America have also ordered their staff to take participate in the drill.

Around 300,000 people outside the United States have signed up, mainly in earthquake risk zones like southern Italy and Japan.

New Zealand organised a similar drill in September involving around 1.3 million people - a quarter of the country's population.

Comment by Howard on June 5, 2012 at 1:47am: Not surprising this drill was held given the raucous behavior of tsunami buoy 46419 off Coos Bay, which reportedly snapped its mooring and is no longer in service.

Thousands Take Part in Tsunami Drill in Coos Bay, Oregon (June 3) -

http://juneauempire.com/not-web/2012-06-03/thousands-take-part-tsun...

Several thousand Oregon Coast residents on alert after last year’s devastating earthquake in Japan took part in their first tsunami evacuation drill Thursday, stopping what they were doing and walking uphill to assembly points where volunteers handed out bottles of water and grab-bags of essentials.

Unlike a real tsunami, there were no sirens and no tremors from a massive offshore earthquake in the towns of Coos Bay, North Bend and Charleston.

But after weeks of door-to-door canvassing, flashing roadside signs, and community meetings sponsored by the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries with help from a federal grant, people knew what was coming at 2 p.m. when an announcement came over a local radio station. They also knew that in the event of an actual massive earthquake generating a surge from the Pacific Ocean they would have had about 20 minutes to get to higher ground before tsunami waves arrived.

At Blossom Gulch Elementary School, the kids in Carli Ainsworth’s kindergarten class watched the clock, calling out the minutes until principal Jodi O’Mara announced over the PA that the drill was on. They got up from the rug where they were holding show and tell with Gameboys and monster trucks, and crawled under the brightly colored tables, peering out between the chrome chair legs.

“It’s not a real one,” one boy assured a friend. “It’s just tiny.”

When the announcement came it was time to evacuate, one little boy said solemnly, “Phew, that was close.”

Then the 400 kids, teachers and staff walked uphill on sidewalks past bungalows, rhododendrons in bloom and flashing fire department SUV lights to a high school football field.

Along the way, Tom Paris called out from behind his picket fence that they were doing great, and only 15 minutes had passed.

Since his home was at 50 feet elevation, he was not taking part, but applauded the effort.

“It needs to be done after what has gone on around the world,” said Paris, 79. “Hopefully, I’m too old to see one. I’ve got my boat tied up out back if it comes to that.”

When the tsunami from the Japan earthquake reached the U.S. last year, coastal residents had hours to prepare, and severe damage was limited to harbors such as Crescent City, Calif. One person was swept away from a beach and died.

The much bigger threat here would be a potential megaquake from the Cascadia Subduction Zone, where two plates of the Earth’s crust butt together miles off the coast. When they slip, they could send a 40-foot (12-meter) surge of water moving at the speed of a jetliner into the Oregon coast, Northern California and Washington. After feeling the quake, people have about 20 minutes to reach higher ground. Authorities advise them to walk, because roads could be impassable and power lines down. Geologic evidence shows the zone jolts on average every 300 to 600 years, and the last one was 312 years ago.

By the time a surge works its way through the bay and into downtown, it would only be about 3 feet deep, but enough to do a lot of damage in the low-lying downtown area, said Coos Bay Fire Chief Stan Gibson.

Gibson said vivid TV images of last year’s tsunami in Japan made people take the possibility more seriously than a decade ago when new signs laying out tsunami evacuation routes were greeted with complaints they would just scare the tourists.

“Seeing seawalls being breached, seeing buildings and cars being tossed around like nothing, I think that really got peoples’ attention,” he said.

Headcounts at the eight assembly points in Coos Bay showed 2,775 people taking part. Numbers from North Bend, Charleston and Southwest Oregon Community College were not immediately available.

The 2004 tsunami in Sumatra triggered federal legislation that is helping the West Coast get ready for a big one, paying for a new set of tsunami maps in Oregon, and evacuation drills in coastal communities up and down the coast, said Rick Wilson, a senior engineering geologist with the California Geological Survey.

In the Coos Bay area, the program has been paying for the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries to send community outreach teams door-to-door and hold meetings to hand out evacuation maps, teach people the threats from local and distant tsunamis, and what preparations they should make, said local spokesman Mikel Chavez.

The department tells people that there is about a 10 percent chance over the next 30 years that the subduction zone could unleash a major quake and tsunami. That compares to a 60 percent chance someone will be in a car accident, a 9.5 percent chance a vehicle will be stolen, and a 0.9 percent chance someone will be killed in a car wreck, said project operations manager Rachel Lyles.

Amy Larson and two co-workers at car dealership along the bayfront on U.S. Highway 101 hiked up the hill to the high school, where volunteers handed out red nylon bags with shaving cream, toothbrushes, and other hygiene items. It took them 9 minutes. On their way back, Larson said she was not actively worried, but felt it made sense to be ready.

“You can’t live your life worrying,” she said, looking at the white clouds and blue sky overhead. “I still want to live here.”

Comment by Ryan Giorgis on February 26, 2012 at 7:20pm: woops, here's the rest

Wyoming’s Department of Homeland Security already has a statewide crisis management plan, but it doesn’t cover what the state should do in the event of an extreme nationwide political or economic collapse. In recent years, lawmakers in at least six states have introduced legislation to create a state currency, all unsuccessfully.

The task force would include state lawmakers, the director of the Wyoming Department of Homeland Security, the Wyoming attorney general and the Wyoming National Guard’s adjutant general, among others.

The bill must pass two more House votes before it would head to the Senate for consideration. The original bill appropriated $32,000 for the task force, though the Joint Appropriations Committee slashed that number in half earlier this week.

University of Wyoming political science professor Jim King said the potential for a complete unraveling of the U.S. government and economy is “astronomically remote” in the foreseeable future.

But King noted that the federal government set up a Continuity of Government Commission in 2002, of which former U.S. Sen. Al Simpson, R-Wyo., was co-chairman. However, King said he didn’t know of any states that had established a similar board.

Contact capital bureau reporter Jeremy Pelzer at 307-632-1244 or jeremy.pelzer@trib,com

Copyright 2012 trib.com. All rights reserved. This material may no...

www.trib.com/MAI/af6e1b2b-0ca4-553f-85e9-92c0f58c00bd/E/Dev" width="1" height="1"/>

Posted in Govt-and-politics, Updates on Friday, February 24, 2012 6:00 pm Updated: 10:16 pm. | Tags: Wyoming, Cheyenne Wyoming, Wyoming Legislature, Wyoming House Of Representatives, Kermit Brown,

Comment by Ryan Giorgis on February 26, 2012 at 7:17pm

from my home town, in the land of dick chenney!

Comment by Howard on February 20, 2012 at 8:26pm: Israeli Schools Hold Earthquake Drill

February 20, 2012

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Schools across Israel took part in an earthquake drill.

Monday's drill was conducted by the Home Front Command in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, the Israel Police, Magen David Adom, Israel Fire and Rescue Services, and local authorities.

The exercise, held in all kindergartens and schools, was initiated to raise the readiness of the education system to an earthquake scenario and to test the effectiveness of the procedures during and following the natural disaster.

It also was intended to strengthen cooperation between local authorities and their educational establishments along with the Home Front Command, Emergency Services and volunteers from organizations.

The last measurable earthquake to hit Israel was last August and was of a 4.2 magnitude.

Parts of Israel and the West Bank lay on the Syrian-African fault line.

Comment by Lynne Warbrooke on February 20, 2012 at 12:58am: In the post today at school we received some annual important papers from the ministry and included among them a survery from the Department of Internal affairs headed "Whats the plan Stan" asking for info on how the school has prepared its students on what to do in the event of an emergency .. seems like mild panic ensuing the world over.. perhaps disclosure is not far away. This incidentally is the first time in 12 years that the current principal has ever seen ANYTHING else in with these important forms. They are considered sacrosanct and NEVER have anything else in the envelope which might cause you to overlook them. Also, heard on the weekend that the local high school is requireing all students to have vaccinations redone.. anyone else have hackles rising???

Comment by Henri Slabbert on February 19, 2012 at 11:40pm: @Diana,

It is heartening that BS and the fine produce of the LCBO has not clouded your judgement. I have loving heart in the country you speak from - and considering your employment, likely in Ottawa, not Toronto; The training, message and purpose does indeed seem to be honorable in your provided office drills, but there is no kill like overkill. The province of Ontario seems fine in the aftertime... apart from the split in the seaway... (Ottawa). But prepare for many months, not three days. Think Calgary might experience a different kind of stampede someday soon?

Comment by Henri Slabbert on February 19, 2012 at 11:02pm: I am saddened to hear that your child will be home sick on that particular day. I sincerely hope that his/her "bug" will clear up shortly after the departure of the government nurses. My sympathies. Gastro takes such many forms.... and in some cases... so many days.

Comment by Henri Slabbert on February 19, 2012 at 10:12pm: The pocket money will dry up. But the skill will stick. Food for thought. Literally.

Comment by Henri Slabbert on February 19, 2012 at 10:10pm: Darlene,

Fear not. It's sabre rattling. (There's Ztalk about it.) Stay away from the rattle and indulge in the pleasure of growing salads in plastic pots like I do. And teach your kids - kids seem to love the exercise when they think they can sell the produce to the neighbors for pocket money.

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Earthquake Drills: Cover-up Showing Their Hand?

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Wyoming House advances doomsday bill

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