MEDIA ADVISORY: MU, Red Cross to support Earthquake Awareness Program

By RoseAnn Sorce

October 16th, 2015

WHAT: The University of Missouri Department of Emergency Management, Department of Geology and the Red Cross are collaborating to host the Great Central United States Shake Out, the  world’s largest earthquake awareness program.

Missouri carries significant risk for damages from an earthquake, as the southeast corner of the state is near the New Madrid zone, the most seismically active earthquake zone east of the Rocky Mountains. Due to the location, MU and Boone County are considered at risk for damages from a significant quake from New Madrid.

“While we know most people at Mizzou don’t worry too much about earthquakes in Columbia, we want to use this opportunity to cause people to stop and think for a moment about what they would do in the case of any emergency, including earthquakes,” said Eric Evans, MU emergency management coordinator.

As part of the effort to encourage earthquake awareness, MU will distribute educational information to students, faculty and staff from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on October 15 in the MU Student Center.

WHO: Students, faculty and staff

WHEN: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 15                               

WHERE: MU Student Center