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<br />PPOO-22 <br /> <br />Jim Wilkinson . <br />Central U.S. Earthquake Consonium <br />2630 East Holmes Road <br />Memphis, TN 38118 <br />(901) 544-3570 <br />cusec@cusec.org <br /> <br />Central United States Partnership <br /> <br />A Strategic Plan for Reducing Risks from Earthquakes in the Central United States <br /> <br />The Central United States Partnership (CUSP) was formed to produce and implement a long-term strategic plan to <br />reduce risk from damaging earthquakes in Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, lllinois, Indiana, Arkansas, and <br />Mississippi. Earthquake scientists and engineers believe a large earthquake is inevitable in the Central U.S. (CUS), <br />based on scientific and historical evidence of earthquake activity in the past, and continuing active seismicity in the <br />present It is also home to the largest earthquake sequence known to have occurred in the continental United <br />States, the great New Madrid earthquakes of 181 I &1812, which ranged in magnitude from an estimated 7.8 to <br />8.1. <br /> <br />CUSP will address the earthquake risk by providing an organizational framework for public and private-sector <br />organizations to lend leadership, resources, and political capital in order to implement a comprehensive loss <br />reduction plan that will help lead to sustainable development throughout the CUS. It is designed to be a working <br />partnership, led by the Central U. S. Earthquake Consonium, (CUSEC), and advised by a Seismic Advisory <br />Council composed of partner representatives. Through the strategic plan the council will review, recommend, and <br />promote the enactment and implementation of programs and activities to the partnership that will result in the <br />development of public policies for reducing earthquake losses. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />A series of forty-four strategies have been developed in three categories to guide the Seismic Advisory Council and <br />CUSP members in designing the plan. Under Living with Earthquakes, strategies concentrate on mitigation, <br />preparedness, emergency response, and recovery and reconstruction. Strategies in Building for Earthquakes <br />include considerations for retrofit of existing structures and designing and building new earthquake resistant <br />structures. In Learning about Earthquakes, strategies consider aspectS of research and practice that can close <br />gaps in science and engineering, as well as implementation of research results. <br /> <br />At present, under the leadership of CUSEC, CUSP is composed of three core organizations: the CUSEC State <br />Geologists (CSG), Institute for Building and Home Safety (lBHS), and Mid-America Earthquake Center (MAEC). <br /> <br />Ten partners compose the remainder of the chaner members: the Federal Emergency Management Agency <br />(FEMA), Department of Transportation (001), Federal Highway Administration (FHW A), Association of <br />Contingency Planners (ACP), Disaster Recovery Business Alliance (DRBA), Extreme Information Infrastructure <br />(XI!), Institute of Gas Technology (IGn, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), U.S. Geological Survey <br />(USGS), and its subsidiary the Mid-Continent Mapping Center (MCMC). <br /> <br />Other puhlic and private organizations will be invited to join, to expand the diversity of the membership, and <br />increase information flow to and from producers, facilitators, and users. Information flow through CUSP will <br />enhance partners capabilities to take advantage of and create new opportunities for political, financial, and <br />technical suppon of new and existing risk reduction programs and activities, and incOlporate them into both shon <br />and long-term components of the strategic plan. Implementation of the strategic plan through the CUSP network <br />will have the potential to significantly reduce earthquake losses and greatly contribute to community sustainability <br />in the Central U.S. <br /> <br />. <br />