The Great Central U.S. ShakeOut is a multi-state drill spanning much of the central United States. This page has information for participants living in Illinois.
Points of Contact
State Earthquake Program Manager
Scott Gauvin, Illinois Emergency Management Agency
Email: scott.gauvin@illinois.gov
Phone: (217) 557-4893
Website: https://www2.illinois.gov/iema/Preparedness/Pages/Earthquake.aspx
Kevin Sur, Public Information Officer
Phone: (217) 557-4756
Website: https://www2.illinois.gov/iema/Preparedness/Pages/Earthquake.aspx
FEMA Regional Earthquake Program Manager
Aaron Stevens, FEMA Region V
Email: aaron.stevens@fema.dhs.gov
Phone: (202) 304-5831
2.1 million people are currently registered to participate in this year’s Great Central U.S. ShakeOut.
167,905 are from Illinois
This year’s International ShakeOut Day is October 17, when millions of people worldwide will participate in earthquake drills at work, school, or home!
At 10:17 am (local time) on 10/17, you can join more than a million people across the Central U.S. practicing earthquake safety. While we encourage you to participate with everyone, you can register your ShakeOut drill for any day of the year, and drill at a time of your choice. You can also include people in multiple locations through video conferencing.
Illinois is at risk from two major seismic zones, the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone and the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ). The Wabash Valley Zone is located between southeastern Illinois and southwestern Indiana. The NMSZ is located in the Central Mississippi Valley and includes portions of the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee. During any 50-year time span, there is a 25% to 40% chance of a magnitude 6.0 or greater earthquake in this seismic zone. Since 1974, the year network monitoring of seismic activity began, more than 3000 earthquakes have been recorded in the NMSZ. Fortunately, none of these earthquakes exceeded a magnitude of 5.0, and most occurred without our noticing. The largest earthquake in recent years occurred on the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone. This earthquake registered a magnitude of 5.4 and occurred in Mt. Carmel, Illinois on April 18th, 2008.
Did you know that the most powerful earthquakes ever to occur in the continental United States took place in the NMSZ during the winter of 1811-1812? At that time, the area of the seismic zone was scarcely populated. Experts estimate that a similar series of earthquakes today would devastate the region, with projected damages of $60 to $80 billion.
The following links provide local and statewide earthquake hazard information:
State Emergency Management Website
https://www2.illinois.gov/iema/Preparedness/Pages/Earthquake.aspx
State Geological Survey Website
http://www.isgs.illinois.edu/hazard-response
USGS State Earthquake Website
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/byregion/illinois.php
***Courtesy of https://www.shakeout.org/***
