NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — This is Tennessee's annual Earthquake Awareness Week, which includes the second annual Great Central U.S. ShakeOut drill.
The drill at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday morning will mark the 200th anniversary of the largest of the great New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812, which created West Tennessee's Reelfoot Lake.
A spokesman for Tennessee Emergency Management says, even this far east, we will feel a big quake’s impact.
"In the event of something major in that part of the state, Nashville is really going to become a lifeline to those people. We may have to shelter up to half-a-million people in our area, and help get water and commodities - blankets and those kinds of resources - to people who are still over in West Tennessee."
Some 250,000 Tennesseans participated in the first drill last April. During the exercise, residents should drop to the ground, take cover under a sturdy desk or table and hold on for 60 seconds.
The states of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi and Missouri are also participating in Tuesday's drill.