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Last night ABC's World News Tonight featured a story on how prepared the U.S. is for a catastrophic earthquake, in light of the tragic earthquake in Japan earlier this month.  As the story says, FEMA has long been planning several drills and exercises that will help the public and the entire emergency management team better prepare for earthquakes and other catastrophic events - but this isn't just a FEMA-led effort. We are continually working with our state, local and tribal partners, along with the many other members of the emergency management team (including voluntary and faith-based organizations, businesses and committed citizens) for these exercises, which many of you have read a lot about here on our blog.

Below are more details on both and how you can get involved:

The Great Central U.S. Shakeout
A multi-state earthquake drill, hosted by the Central United States Earthquake Consortium, will take place April 25 at 10:15 a.m. CDT (or April 19 for Indiana residents) to practice the proper actions to stay safe during a quake.  More than 1.5 million participants have registered, including schools, businesses, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and families.  Visit the ShakeOut website to learn more and sign up today.

National Level Exercise 2011
In May, we will be hosting a National Level Exercise to simulate the scenario of an earthquake in the New Madrid seismic zone.  The purpose of the exercise is to prepare and coordinate a multiple-jurisdictional integrated response to a national catastrophic event.  The exercise is another opportunity to strengthen relationships across emergency management team and continue to improve catastrophic earthquake planning.

We regularly promote three simple steps to get prepared for an earthquake, or any disaster: get a kit, make a plan, and be informed.  Leave us a comment and share how you're taking steps to get prepared for an earthquake.