ST. LOUIS, MO — For the first time ever in St. Louis, 500 emergency responders descended upon the streets to conduct dense urban terrain emergency exercises.

Task Force 46, (Michigan’s National Guard) and Missouri’s National Guard are holding a three-day exercise which simulates a focused response to an 8.4 magnitude earthquake on the New Madrid seismic fault resulting in structural damage, civilian casualties and chemical contamination in the vicinity of Busch Stadium during a baseball game.

The drills shut down part of Clark and 8th streets during daylight hours. Onlookers saw military vehicles and personnel running important drills including reconnaissance, urban search and rescue, mass casualty decontamination and structural and infrastructure damage assessment. Outside of downtown, more drills were performed along the Missouri River for simulated damaged bridges.

According to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, hundreds of unnoticeable earthquakes occur annually along the New Madrid Seismic zone. More than 200 years ago, three major earthquakes believed to be magnitude 7.0 or greater occurred in a two-month span (Dec. 16, 1811, to Feb. 7, 1812). Hundreds of moderate and thousands of smaller earthquakes followed.  

“Task Force 46 is a National Guard element that is deployed to provide command and support of military response forces in support of civilian responders to manage catastrophic chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents,” said the East-West Gateway Council of Governments.  “These exercises are being coordinated with STARRS, The St. Louis Area Regional Response System, which is housed within East-West Gateway Council of Governments. STARRS coordinates with emergency responders across local jurisdictions to enhance the region’s capabilities to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from natural disasters, terrorism and large-scale industrial accidents and hazards.” Last year, similar exercises were held by Task Force 46 in Nashville, Tennessee.