Southeast Mo. earthquake evacuation survey results released

SOUTHEAST Mo. (KFVS) - 211 years ago today one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded in the U.S. hit New Madrid.

But what if it happened today? Would you and your family know where to go?

The results of a survey by the University of Missouri from January 28 to February 21 have recently been released.

According to the university, they received 891 responses.

21 percent of those who responded to the survey live in Cape Girardeau County and 19 percent live in Butler County. The rest were in Dunklin, Stoddard, Scott, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot or another county.

When asked how likely do they think they and their family will be impacted by an earthquake in the next five years, 55 percent said “not sure.”

If an earthquake did impact their neighborhood, the majority of people said they would shelter in their home. If they evacuated, most said they would go to a relative’s home.

Part of the survey included the following scenario:

“...imagine that a catastrophic earthquake of magnitude 8.0 has occurred in the New Madrid region. This region has experienced severe infrastructure damage with households losing access to basic utilities (power, internet, water, gas). A mandatory evacuation order has been given for your neighborhood...”

In response, more people said they would evacuate to Arkansas or St. Louis.

According to the survey results, Interstate 55, U.S. 60 and U.S. 67 were the most cited routes to be used by evacuees.

Recommendations from these results will be released at a later time.

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