Why Did Missouri National Guard Just Hold New Madrid Quake Drill?

If you happened to be in the St. Louis, Missouri area earlier this week, you might have seen National Guard troops on the streets and wondered what was going on. No reason for alarm as there's a very good reason why those troops had smashed vehicles and emergency tents set up. They were practicing for a massive New Madrid earthquake. Wait. What?

The best coverage I've seen of what the Missouri National Guard was doing this week was by KSDK in St. Louis. It was an operation where first responders in the metro area and the Missouri National Guard simulated a response to a huge earthquake.

Best comment I've seen on YouTube so far on this video share was this one:

"I heard StL wrote them all parking tickets." Funny and well-played, but this really is no laughing matter.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources now says there is a 10% chance that the state will experience a magnitude 7 or higher earthquake in the next 50 years. That would obviously be catastrophic, but there's an even better chance that a major quake greater than 6 could cause massive damage. The estimate goes up to 25% that Missouri will see a quake that large in the next 30 years.

It's an outstanding idea for first responders and the Missouri National Guard to not only have a plan in place, but also do drills to get a practice run on what a response to an earthquake in Missouri might be like. A real disaster could happen with no warning and change our lives forever.