Great Montana Shake-Out 2015

[KA2ODP/7]

The theme of emergency preparedness is prevalent during the months of September and October. On Wednesday, 21 October 2015 at 10:21 AM the North Central Montana ARES group participated in a state-wide earthquake drill.

This annual drill is called "The Great Montana Shake-Out". The main goal of the "Shake-Out" is to get Montanans prepared for major earthquakes, so they learn what to do before, during, and after an earthquake. This exercise was fairly low key. There were no freeway closures, power outages, or other simulated effects of the hypothetical earthquake. Organizers of this event wanted people to understand that when you feel an earthquake happening, wherever you are at that moment—at home, at work, at school, anywhere—you should Drop, Cover, and Hold-On! Office desks, conference tables, and work benches are excellent objects to seek cover under. They will protect you from most falling objects.

As a side note, the earthquake drill was not just a Montana event. Many other states also participated, as well as various countries around the world! October 21st was a day of earthquake drills for all locations across the nation where such training is relevant.

But how is an earthquake drill relevant to Montana? It may surprise you to find out that Montana is one of the most seismically-active states! Minor earthquakes happen all the time in Montana. Most are small, and usually only felt by persons near the epicenter. In fact, last year an earthquake was recorded near Lincoln, Montana. It happened on Saturday, September 27th, 2014 (just a few weeks before the October "Shake-Out" drill.) The quake occurred at 10:42 PM and registered a magnitude of 3.6 on the Richter scale.

KRTV News interviewed Michael Stickney, director of the Earthquake Studies Office at the Montana Bureau of Mines & Geology. He reported that four to five small earthquakes happen in Montana every day, but most can't be felt. As a result, the vast majority of these earthquakes are minor, and are primarily of interest only to geologists and researchers. Mr. Stickney went on to say, "There is a seismic belt, known as the Intermountain Seismic Belt, that passes through the western one third of the state. Small earthquakes are very common within this zone, which runs more or less from Yellowstone Park up to about Flathead Lake." In regards to the earthquake near Lincoln, Mr. Stickney commented, "At a magnitude of 3.6 it is certainly large enough for people to feel and notice. But the shaking in general would be too weak to cause any damage to structures or buildings."

This year we did not have any real earthquakes prior to the "Great Montana Shake-Out" drill. I just put out the call on various local repeaters to see who was out there monitoring a repeater at 10:21 AM on a quiet Wednesday morning. I received 11 responses, which was pretty good. With many folks at work, it can be difficult to find anyone to talk to on the local repeaters during the day.

The most popular repeaters that folks were monitoring in the Great Falls area were the 146.740 MHz (Highwood-Baldy) and the 147.300 MHz (Bootlegger Trail) repeaters. These results are good, in that most folks know we have our weekly ARES net every Thursday at 7:00 PM on the 146.740 MHz repeater. During the net I always mention that we are not locked into using the 146.740 MHz repeater every single time. The ARES net could be activated at any time on any local repeater. The recommended "back-up" repeater to also monitor in the Great Falls area is the 147.300 MHz repeater. This second repeater was recently relocated from Black Eagle to a new location along the "Bootlegger Trail", 4.5 miles north of Great Falls. At this new location the repeater sits at an elevation of 3,711 feet - quite an improvement from the previous location in Black Eagle. We are hoping this new location will provide extended coverage beyond just the immediate Great Falls area.

During this year's earthquake drill we were assisted by John (KD7ZLU) who relayed our local results to Helena via the 3880 kHz HF state-wide ARES frequency. My question is: what other individual hams and groups participated in "The Great Montana Shake-Out"? I also used the local MRLA link repeater (146.680 MHz) and contacted Rick (KB7KB) who was mobile near Bozeman, MT. I'm just wondering how active other groups were during this exercise?

73 de

Bruce, KA2ODP/7
ARES Emergency Coordinator (EC)
Cascade County, MT