FRANKFORT, Ky. (June 18, 2014) On Monday, Kentucky Emergency Management (KYEM) and its partners kicked off a weeklong earthquake exercise, CAPSTONE-14, designed to strengthen partnerships between local, state and federal governments and the private sector.
Under the direction of the Central United Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC) board of directors, CAPSTONE-14 has been three years in planning and is based upon the occurrence of a damaging earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ). The exercise is being conducted through Friday in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee.
“CAPSTONE-14 offers Kentucky and our neighboring CUSEC states the opportunity to build upon the existing partnerships which are in place and opportunities to identify what works and what needs improvement,” said KYEM Director Michael Dossett.
Kentucky’s CAPSTONE -14 objectives include: establishing interoperability among the eight participating states and federal and local governments; focusing on communications; managing resources; establishing a common operational picture through the use of geographic information systems and information management systems; and integrating private sector participants into individual state and multi-state regional command and control activities through the use of the virtual business emergency operations center.
This exercise is also testing new technology to allow better communication and interoperability among officials and agencies in multiple states, including a map that allows the public to track areas impacted by the simulated earthquake at tinyurl.com/CAPSTONE-MAP.
For more information on CAPSTONE-14 visit cusec.org. Visit kyem.ky.gov for more information about Kentucky Emergency Management.
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