In the wake of the tragic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, many are wondering how prepared the University of Memphis and the city itself are for a natural disaster.
Unlike coastal cities, Memphis is more likely to endure tornadoes. And earthquakes are also a concern because the city sits on the 120-mile-long New Madrid Fault Line, which cuts across five state lines and hits the Mississippi River three times.
“Catastrophic events happen very infrequently,” said Gary Patterson, the information service director for U of M’s Center for Earthquake Research and Information.
Memphis is more likely to have a magnitude 6, which falls on the strong category of the Richter scale and causes damage up 100 miles.
“What I am worried about is not a catastrophe, but a small earthquake. Many people are not prepared for a small earthquake,” Patterson said. “A little public education goes a long way.”
Kristin Mejia, a sophomore Spanish major, agreed.
“(Some) People think that an earthquake cannot happen in the South,” she said.
Mejia is a California native and has been a resident for six years.
She also said there are worse things than earthquakes.
“Earthquakes only last so long. Hurricanes and tornadoes can last for hours,” she said.
Bruce Harber, U of M’s director of public safety, said there are ways to be prepared in an emergency.
“We tell students to keep a bag of belongings that they might need, like money or identification,” Harber said.
The U of M has a crisis management unit in case of natural disasters or manmade mayhem.
“What we tried to do was get one person from each department that we could touch base with,” Harber said. All officers have gone through incident training.
The McWherter Library, FedEx Institute of Technology, Zach Curlin and Deloach Parking Garages, Rose Theater and the Finch Center are the only buildings on campus that are earthquake resistant. They were built in the 1990s.
But the older buildings on campus sustain some damage from a disaster.
“The buildings are made out of concrete and steel. They have sound structures,” said Jim Hellums, assistant vice president of the U of M’s Physical Plant.
Even though the University has put plans in order to protect its students, no one can predict exactly what will happen during a disaster.
“No one knows what will happen. It will be bad. But no one knows how bad,” Patterson said.
Harber agreed.
“You can only plan so far,” Harber said. “Hopefully, we have planned for most scenarios.”
