MARION – Volunteer staff from the Williamson County Emergency Management Agency participated this past weekend in a training exercise designed to simulate the aftermath of a wintertime earthquake along the New Madrid Fault.
The “Frozen Prairie” exercise was designed to test the ability of various communications channels after an assumed 7.5 magnitude quake. The specific goal was to test the ability to maintain communications channels from southern to northern Illinois if commercial communications links were damaged.
“A strong earthquake can topple communication towers and even sever fiber optic lines so much of the emphasis was on testing the abilities of amateur radio operators, the Illinois National Guard, and Illinois Emergency Management Agency assets,” said Williamson County EMA Director Brian Burgess.
Several area EMA volunteers, who are licensed amateur (ham) radio operators, practiced delivering messages over a variety of radio modes. That even included Morse Code, the original and reliable mode of digital communication.
As part of the effort an Illinois Transportable Emergency Communications Systems (ITECS) trailer was positioned near Herrin Hospital. These communications trailers are staged throughout the state to ensure that various first responders are able to communicate with one another.
“A New Madrid earthquake would be one of the most complex and challenging disaster scenarios first responders could face,” said Burgess. “A wintertime earthquake where power outages and gas line ruptures are likely would be especially challenging.”
