By AP
Carterville, IL – On the same day as a major earthquake pounded Haiti, more than 50 officials from local emergency preparedness agencies learned more about what a major earthquake would do to southern Illinois and how they can prepare.
The Illinois Emergency Management Agency hosted a summit Tuesday in Carterville for representatives of 19 local disaster management offices.
A federal report on planning for an earthquake along the New Madrid fault estimates a 7.7 magnitude quake could take 3,500 lives and displace 7.2 million people
It would cause $300 billion in direct economic losses within an eight-state area.
Indirect losses would be twice that much.
