Earthquake Insight Field Trip Planned for April 17-18
The next Earthquake Insight Field Trip will be held on Thursday and Friday, April 17-18, 2008. This semi-annual outreach event, hosted by the US Geological Survey, will start and end in Memphis, Tenn. It is especially for non-scientists, such as business leaders, elected officials, media, finance and equity professionals, risk managers, portfolio managers, lenders, and business continuity planners.
Field trip participants will learn about the earthquake history of the central US and current exposures to earthquake hazards in this area. The field-trip route will cross the heart of the New Madrid fault zone and will include parts of Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri. Stops will be made at sites that show geologic evidence of past large earthquakes as well as cost-effective engineering solutions that minimize earthquake risk to certain structures.
The field trip will be led by geoscientists, engineers, and emergency planners who are active in current research and private state-of-the-practice.
Much of the value of the four past Earthquake Insight Field Trips was from the candid, one-on-one discussions between earthquake professionals and field-trip participants, who have mostly been from private-sector leadership.
Past participants have represented State Farm Companies, Pfizer, FM Global, the Missouri State Senate, Wal-Mart, Chubb, AON, AG Edwards, ABC/Disney, General Reinsurance, Time-Warner, Edward Jones, St. Paul/Travelers, Enbridge, and many others.
Each spring, an Earthquake Insight Field Trip starts and ends in Memphis, Tenn. Each fall, another starts and ends in St. Louis, Mo. The route and content of each event is unique.
The final report of the first Earthquake Insight Field Trip, which was in June 2005, is posted at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/external/reports/05HQGR0014.pdf .
For more information or to register, please contact Phyllis Steckel at psteckel@charter.net or 636-239-4013 before March 31, 2008. Due to logistical constraints, the group is strictly limited to 35 participants. Registration cost for the field trip, which includes transportation, single-occupancy hotel, meals, and guidebook, is $395.