Laptop reportedly seized from ISIS hideout hints at bio weapons attack

A laptop reportedly recovered from an Islamic State jihadist contained a hidden trove of secret plans, including weaponizing the bubonic plague, and lessons on disguise, bomb-making and stealing cars.
A man identified by ForeignPolicy.com as Abu Ali, a commander of a moderate Syrian rebel group in northern Syria, told the publication the black laptop was seized earlier this year in a raid on an ISIS hideout in the Syrian province of Idlib, close to the border with Turkey, and belonged to a Tunisian jihadist.

 

"We found the laptop and the power cord in a room," Ali told ForeignPolicy.com. "I took it with me."
Initially, it appeared the computer had been scrubbed, but on closer inspection, thousands of secret files were discovered on the hard drive, which was not password protected, Ali said.

"The advantage of biological weapons is that they do not cost a lot of money, while the human casualties can be huge."- Document found hidden on ISIS fighter's laptop

ForeignPolicy.com was permitted to copy of thousands of files, which were in French, English, and Arabic. The information included videos of Usama bin Laden, ideological justifications for jihad and tutorials on how to carry out the Islamic State's deadly campaigns.

But most chilling were files that indicated the computer's owner, identified as a Tunisian national named Muhammed S. who joined ISIS in Syria after studying chemistry and physics at two universities in Tunisia, was teaching himself how to manufacture biological weapons, in preparation for a potential attack that could have been catastrophic on a global scale. A 19-page document in Arabic included instructions on how to develop biological weapons and how to weaponize the bubonic plague from infected animals.

"The advantage of biological weapons is that they do not cost a lot of money, while the human casualties can be huge," the document states.

The document includes instructions for testing the weaponized plague before using it to attack.
"When the microbe is injected in small mice, the symptoms of the disease should start to appear within 24 hours," the document says.

While some Islamic scholars have said the use of weapons of mass destruction is prohibited, the material on the seized computer included a fatwa, or Islamic ruling, permitting it.

"If Muslims cannot defeat the kafir [unbelievers] in a different way, it is permissible to use weapons of mass destruction," states the fatwa by Saudi jihadi cleric Nasir al-Fahd, who is currently imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. "Even if it kills all of them and wipes them and their descendants off the face of the Earth."

Foreign Policy verified that the computer's owner had indeed attended a Tunisian university and studied chemistry and physics there until some time in 2011.

Thousands of Tunisians have gone to Syria to join Islamic State, according to an estimate from Tunisia's government.

Foreign Policy noted that the information on the laptop does not indicate that Islamic State possess biological weapons. But it does show they are seeking them.

"The real difficulty in all of these weapons ... [is] to actually have a workable distribution system that will kill a lot of people," Magnus Ranstorp, research director of the Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defence College, told the publication. "But to produce quite scary weapons is certainly within [the Islamic State's] capabilities."

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/08/29/laptop-reportedly-seized-from-isis-hideout-hints-at-biological-weapons/

70 Common Things That Go Wrong During a Disaster

As recent as four years ago, when someone mentioned disaster preparedness, the nature and scope of the disaster was typically something caused Mother Nature. Sure, some consideration was given to man-made disasters and terrorism, but for the most part, it was a freak of nature that worried us the most.

These days, we worry about a whole lot more. EMPs, solar flares, bio-terrorism, pandemics, nuclear war and more dominate the what-if landscape. Add to that the possibility of a global famine or economic collapse and heck, we could spend all day and all night caught up in fear of the unknown.



What this all boils down are three things that every Prepper knows:

1. Anything can happen at any time.

2. Being prepared means being ready for the most likely disruptive event we can fathom given our unique location, circumstances and person beliefs.

3. Regardless of how ready and how prepared we are, there is a strong likelihood that something will go wrong and things will not have the expected outcome.

All this brings me to the topic of today’s article: “70 Common Things That Go Wrong During a Disaster”. I came across this list awhile back and while it is not my original work, I felt that it was a list worth sharing. You will find that some of the go-wrong things are common knowledge, but there are others that are surprising and to be honest, a bit disconcerting.

Most of the 70 items are negative and many go against what we commonly believe will occur as first responders and rescuers come on the scene. So what is a prepper to do?

Read through the list, remind yourself that trained emergency personnel are human, and that even with the best of training, mistakes will be made.

70 Common Things That Can and Will Go Wrong During a Disaster

1. In an earthquake, there may be violent ground shaking; it will seem to last much longer than it actually does.
2. Fires will occur, caused by electrical shorts, natural gas, fireplaces, stoves, etc.
3. Fires in collapsed buildings will be very difficult to control.
4. The extent of the disaster will be difficult to assess, though this will be necessary to assure proper commitment of resources.
5. Emergency equipment and field units will commit without being dispatched. There will be an air of urgency and more requests for aid than units available to send.
6. Communications will be inadequate; holes will appear in the system and air traffic will be incredibly heavy.
7. Trained personnel will become supervisors because they will be too valuable to perform hands-on tasks.
8. Responding mutual aid units will become lost; they will require maps and guides.
9. Water will be contaminated and unsafe for drinking. Tankers will be needed for fire fighting and for carrying drinking water.
10. Citizens will volunteer but their commitment will usually be short-term.
11. There may be a multitude of hazardous materials incidents.
12. Aircraft will flood the area; law enforcement, fire, media, civilian, commercial and military aircraft will be a major concern.
13. The Command Post and/or EOC will be overrun with non-essential personnel; media, geologists, architects, engineers, representatives from other jurisdictions, etc.
14. Staging will be essential; the flow of personnel, equipment and supplies will be overwhelming.
15. Although it is an EOC function, the Field Command Post will become the temporary seat of government.
16. Electric power will be interrupted or will fail completely.
17. It will be difficult to shut off the gas; valves that are seldom, if ever, used will be difficult to find, and may not work when they are found.
18. Phone service will be erratic or non-existent. Pay phones will be the most reliable.
19. The media will have the best communications available; be prepared to share or impound their resources.
20. Fuel will not be available because there will be no electricity to run the pumps.
21. There will be an epidemic of flat tires; police, fire, and emergency medical vehicles will sustain a multitude of flat tires that will require repair in the field.
22. Fires will need to be investigated; mutual aid should include arson investigators.
23. The primary police department concern will be law enforcement; there will not be sufficient time or manpower to provide miscellaneous services.
24. It will be dark; there will not be enough generators or lights available.
25. Portable toilets will be in demand; there will be no place to go, and if a place is found there will be six photographers there to cover the event.
26. The perimeter will be difficult to control; citizens and media alike will offer good reasons why they should be allowed to enter the restricted area.
27. Search dogs will be needed early in the operation.
28. Documentation will be very important; there will be a multitude of requests for information later.
29. Riveted steel (oil and water storage) tanks may fail.
30. Streets will be impassable in some areas; it will be necessary to clear streets of rubble in order to conduct emergency operations.
31. The same buildings will be searched more than once unless they are clearly marked.
32. In earthquakes, there will be after shocks; they will hamper emergency operations, create new fears among the citizenry and may cause more destruction than the original shock.
33. Many injured people will have to find their own way to medical treatment facilities.
34. Volunteer and reserve personnel may be slow to respond; they will put their own families’ safety first.
35. On-duty public safety personnel will be concerned about their own families, and some may leave their posts to check on them.
36. Law enforcement and the media will clash; all media representatives should be referred to the Public Information Officer.
37. Very few citizens will utilize evacuation/mass care centers; they will prefer to stay with friends and relatives, or to camp out in their own yards.
38. Structural engineers will be needed to evaluate standing buildings for use as evacuation centers, command posts, information centers, first aid stations.
39. The identification of workers and volunteers will be a problem; it will be difficult to determine who is working where and on what.
40. There will be rumors; people will be listening to their radios and must be given accurate information.

41. There will not be enough handie-talkies; batteries will soon go dead.
42. Many fire hydrants will be inaccessible (covered or destroyed by rubble) or inoperable.
43. Generators will run out of fuel; jerry cans of fuel must be obtained early to maintain generator powered lighting and communications.
44. Critical facilities will have to be self-sufficient; gas, lights, water and sewage may be out for days.
45. Emergency responders will require rest and must be relieved. Local personnel may be of value as guides for mutual aid responders, or as supervisors for volunteer crews.
46. Equipment will be lost, damaged or stolen, and may never be accounted for.
47. Someone will get the bill; record-keeping and accounting procedures will be important.
48. Traditional non-emergency personnel will want to go home at 5 o’clock; all public employees must be made to realize that they are a part of the emergency response team.
49. People will die and there is nothing that can be done about it. Non-public safety personnel will not understand why everyone cannot be saved. Priorities must be set to save the most lives possible.
50. Dead bodies should not be an initial concern. Rescuing the living should be the first priority.
51. If phones are working, the number of requests for service will be overwhelming. People will have to fend for themselves; it will be difficult for dispatchers to ignore these pleas for help.
52. Some field units will disappear; you will not be able to reach them and will not know where they are or what they are doing.
53. Security will have to be posted at hospitals, clinics, and first-aid stations to control hysterical citizens demanding immediate attention.
54. Representatives from public agencies throughout the United States and many foreign countries will want to come and observe the operations or offer assistance. They will be a significant problem.
55. Department heads (EOC) staff may not have a working knowledge of their assigned areas of responsibility, and will play it by ear.
56. Some citizens and media representatives will question your decisions because they will not recognize that the safety of field responders is paramount.
57. There are no critically injured in a disaster; only those who are dead or alive.
58. Handicapped and disabled persons will probably die unless personal family and friends can care for them and maintain their life-support systems.
59. Management will not be familiar with field response procedures, and may attempt to change standard operating procedures.
60. Emergency responders (public safety and medical alike) will not be adequately trained to respond efficiently.
61. There will be initial chaos; supplies, materials and equipment needed will not be readily available.
62. There will be a general lack of necessary information; coordinators will want to wait for damage/casualty assessment information to establish priorities.
63. Emergency equipment will not be able to reach some locations because of traffic jams. Tow trucks will be at a premium. Parked or abandoned vehicles will block streets, and emergency responders will be the worst offenders.
64. Even though there will not be enough people to initially deal with emergencies, many available personnel will never be identified and never used. After the initial shock, there will be too many volunteers.
65. General information will be offered in response to specific questions because field units cannot verify the requested information.
66. Individual public safety officers will be asked to do the work of squads or companies; they will have to recruit volunteers on the spot to provide assistance to their efforts.
67. The message flow to, from, and within the EOC and Field Command Post will break down and become inefficient and unmanageable.
68. There will be an over critical desire to verify all incoming information. If it is received from a field unit, it should be considered as verified.
69. Some EOC and Command Post personnel will become overloaded; some will not be able to cope with the volume of activity and information they have to deal with, and some will not be able to cope with the noise and distractions.
70. Things will get better some time after they have become considerably worse.
Note: Credit for list is a July 6, 2006 article by Lt. Dan Blackston, Chula Vista Police Department

The Final Word

As hip as it may sound to talk about zombies, the end of the world and a doomsday apocalypse, the reality is that a disaster is anything but cool and hip. As we look back in modern history, we will find countless instances where a disaster, whether man-made or an acr of nature, has wreaked unexpected havoc, destruction and panic. The recovery process is long, and the level of organization and dedication required to successfully mobilize resources is huge.

As you read through this list of 70 things that can go wrong following a disaster, realize that while many of these things may not happen each and every time there is an emergency, many of them will indeed occur. And it is true. Things will get better – eventually – but they may also get a lot worse than you can imagine before the road to recovery begins.

As a layman citizen, think about your own needs now and how they might be impacted in an emergency. Recognize and acknowledge up front that if things can go wrong, they will. Go back and re-visit your most basic prepping skills and supplies by reviewing 12 Months of Prepping – The First Year. And of course, continue to stow away extra food, water and especially tools that will help get you through if a disaster occurs in your community. Couple these with some basic survival skills and a bit of faith and you will have done your best to prepare.

Yes, it is a cliché, but I will say it once again. Be prepared, not scared.

http://www.backdoorsurvival.com/70-common-things-that-occur-during-a-disaster/

4 Ways How To Tell If A Dented Can Of Food Is Safe To Eat

If a can of food is dented, it may be unsafe to eat it’s food contents and should be discarded – but not all dented food cans are ‘bad’ – some of them may be perfectly safe.
Here’s how to tell the difference if a dented can of food is safe to eat or not…


Knowing how to tell the difference between a safe or otherwise unsafe dented can of food may reduce unnecessary waste and can even save you money by purchasing these (dented) cans which may be on sale for a fraction of the price.
There are four simple ways or guidelines to determine whether a can of food is safe to eat or whether the can should be discarded.

Push On The Top And Bottom Of The Can

If the top or bottom of the can moves or makes a popping sound, the can’s seal has probably been broken and air has made its way inside. Popped cans should be thrown out.
If the can does not make a noise or move when pressing on the top and bottom, it is probably safe to eat (the seal is still good).

Bulging And Bloated Can

If the can of food is bulging and bloated (unlike an ordinary dent), it is not safe. Cans will bulge and bloat when bacteria begins to produce gasses which push the can outward.

Rusted Can

Rust will weaken the integrity of the can and may allow air and bacteria to enter, particularly if the rust does not simply brush off.

Does The Can ‘Spray’ Out When You Open It?

When you open the can – when you puncture the lid with a can opener, it should not spray or explode (as in being under pressure). If it does spray, do not eat the food because it may be contaminated with bacteria. Safe dented cans will open the same as non dented cans.

————————-
Notes:
Particularly avoid buying cans that are dented on the top or bottom, or near or at the seams. This is where the can is weakest – where the main seams of the can are located.
If the can is dented along the side it will probably be safe to eat the food inside, given the checks listed above.
When a can has become dented… the dent, crease, or dimple has weakened the can at that spot – especially a sharp dent. Further metal stress over time may cause the can to leak, so for this reason it is advisable to consume the food from your dented cans first – given the checks above.
Foods that have abnormal odors should not be eaten.
Having said all that, when in doubt, throw it out.

Information gathered from sources including grocery store owners and USDA inspectors.

http://modernsurvivalblog.com/survival-kitchen/4-ways-how-to-tell-if-a-dented-can-is-safe/#more-30136 

Terrorism Update: FBI Targets Preppers and Preparedness Supplies In Latest Bulletin

If you’ve been preparing for emergencies, disasters, or economic collapse there’s a strong likelihood that you’ve been added to a watch list somewhere.

Hard to believe?



The latest Communities Against Terrorism guidelines distributed by the FBI to military surplus stores in the state of Colorado outline specific activities that owners and retail associates should look for when trying to spot terrorist related activity. Much of the suspicious activity listed describes the behavior and shopping list of any modern day prepper:

What should I consider suspicious?
People or groups who:

• Provide identification that is inconsistent or suspect or demand identity “privacy”
• Insist on paying with cash or uses credit card(s) in different names
• Make suspicious comments regarding anti-US, radical theology, vague or cryptic warnings that suggests or appear to endorse the use of violence in support of a cause
• Demonstrate interest in uses that do not seem consistent with the intended use of the item being purchased
• Possess little knowledge of intended purchase items
• Make bulk purchases of items to include:
  -Weatherproofed ammunition or match containers
  -Meals Ready to Eat
  -Night Vision Devices; night flashlights; gas masks
  -High capacity magazines
  -Bi-pods or tri-pods for rifles

View the entire Federal Bureau of Investigation Memo [PDF]

The brief bulk purchases list described above is something you might find in the wish-list or supply closet of any serious prepper. If you are stocking up on ammo, buying extra magazines, a bi-pod and night vision then you are suspicious and potentially a domestic terrorist; nevermind that you may be planning a personal defense strategy for your property in the event of a widespread disaster and have no intention of using these items for any other purpose. Even if you are stockpiling the most basic of all preparedness lists, like MRE’s or other long-term food storage items, the FBI now considers you suspicious.

Via Oathkeepers:
The handout also instructs surplus store owners to consider as “suspicious” anyone who “demands identity ‘privacy’” or anyone who expresses “extreme religious statements” and those who “make suspicious comments regarding anti-US, [or] radical theology.”
The “Communities Against Terrorism” flyer closes by stating:

Preventing terrorism is a community effort. By learning what to look for, you can make a positive contribution in the fight against terrorism. The partnership between the community and law enforcement is essential to the success of anti-terrorism efforts.
Some of the activities, taken individually, could be innocent and must be examined by law enforcement professionals in a larger context to determine whether there is a basis to investigate. The activities outlined on this handout are by no means all-inclusive but have been compiled from a review of terrorist events over several years.

The handout encourages surplus store owners and employees to provide information on “suspicious” customers by calling the Denver Joint Terrorism Task Force or the Colorado Information Analysis Center. This handout is very nearly identical to one issued by the FBI to gun stores from Connecticut to Utah(PDF)
This new handout expands the absurdity by now also targeting customers of military surplus stores, and by specifically targeting the purchasing of very common, and very popular, preparedness items such as Meals Ready to Eat (MRE’s) as “potential indicators of terrorist activities.”

Those of us who have lost confidence in our government’s ability to manage a crisis, and have taken it upon ourselves to store reserve food supplies, water, self defense armaments, secondary monetary exchange units, or other SHTF Planning gear have now become “persons of interest” and domestic terrorism suspects.

References: Steve Quayle, Oathkeepers

When SHTF, How Long can you Survive Without Food?

We know that human beings can survive for many weeks without food, so technically food is not vital in a survival situation. Food deprivation is similar to dehydration in the effects it has on the body long before it finally causes death, such as irritability, weakness, low morale, disorientation, loss of mental clarity and/or judgment. Other notable physical effects include inability to control fluctuations in body temperature and a weakened immune system.

Water of course is the most essential element we need for survival but food is still high up on the list of critical needs. Going without food for even a short time, even as long as a week, while not long enough to produce starvation, can have many undesirable effects, both physically and mentally. Commonly noted conditions resulting from a lack of food is weakness (both weakness, experienced as a lack of strength and weakness of the immune system), irritability, general lowered morale, disorientation and inability to make good judgment calls, and an inability to control one’s own body temperature so as to increase the persons chances of hypothermia, heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Therefore, it is clear that the only way to achieve success as a survivor is to face all the adverse conditions that you may be forced to contend with on a full stomach.

The Will to Live and Hunger

It is generally accepted that the will to live plays a significant role in survival, regardless of the availability of food. A person’s will to survive can get him through an extended period of food deprivation while another individual who has given up will succumb to starvation much more quickly.

Your general health at the outset

If you’ve been safeguarding your health by sticking to a nutritious diet, you’ll be able to count on those nutrients you’ve consumed to carry you through the initial phase of the survival crisis and you will be able to last longer without food than someone whose diet has not been nutritionally adequate prior to the survival situation.

What your muscle mass provides

When you are starving, your body breaks down your muscle mass to provide both nutrients and calories. However, lean muscle burns calories even when the body is resting.

Your body fat and calories

In a survival situation, a little extra body fat is desirable, because when there isn’t any food, your body fat will step in as a substitute. There are 3600 calories in a pound of human body fat, and depending on the rate the body burns those calories, it will provide energy for about a day and a half.

Metabolism

It varies with each individual. As food deprivation continues, your metabolism will slow down; however, if you’re a person who already had a slow metabolism at the outset, you will be in a more favorable position than others because you will be burning less calories right from the start, and thus will be able to live longer.

The work done under food deprivation

The more work you have to do, the more calories and nutrients your body will burn. So, when under food deprivation, efficiency of motion becomes essential, since the less activity you have to perform, the better your chance of living longer.

Temperature

This plays an important role in the determination of how long you can live under food deprivation, since in both uncomfortably cold and uncomfortably hot environments, the body burns more calories than it typically does. If the temperature is heading to extremes of cold, the body spends the calories trying to keep you warm. If it’s heading to extremes of heat, the body will be releasing valuable electrolytes in the sweat it produces in its effort to keep you cool. You are more prone to heat exhaustion and heat stroke during food deprivation, but since water is always the primary factor in any survival situation, it is even more crucial when enduring food deprivation, because adequate hydration in the absence of food will keep you going longer than if you were facing a simultaneous lack of food and water.

http://www.urbansurvivalnetwork.com/featured/when-shtf-how-long-can-you-survive-without-food/#more-67

GOV. JERRY BROWN ANNOUNCES COLLAPSE OF CALIFORNIA AND ULTIMATELY THE U.S.

 

Flood of illegal immigrants prepare nation for takeover by global elite.

On Tuesday California Gov. Jerry Brown met with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in Sacramento.

A day prior to the meeting in the California capitol, Brown announced the collapse of the United States and the elimination of its national borders when he declared California to be wide-open to illegal immigration.

“You’re all welcome in California today,” Brown said in Los Angeles on Monday.

Nieto characterized the influx of illegal immigrants as justice for “those who contribute so much to the development of the American society.”

In reality, the influx spells the destruction of American society. Brown’s welcoming of a flood of new illegal immigrants and Nieto’s insistence crossing the border represents social justice will ultimately deal a fatal blow to not only the state, but the nation as a whole.

The growth of illegal and legal immigrants – between 1970 and 2008 the share of California’s population comprised of immigrants tripled from 9 percent to 27 percent – has turned California into a failed state.

It will soon do the same for the country as a whole.

California: A Socialist Dystopia

In February, Democrats signaled yet another assail on the economic viability of the state when they proposed legislation that allows illegal immigrants to qualify for healthcare coverage under Medicare.
California is on record as the largest welfare state in the country. The state has one-eighth of the nation’s population and one-third of all welfare recipients.

In 2011 Judicial Watch cited U.S. Census Bureau data to show that families headed up by illegal immigrants are more likely to use welfare programs.

“Even before the recession, immigrant households with children used welfare programs at consistently higher rates than natives,” the organization explained. “Basically, the majority of households across the country benefitting from publicly-funded welfare programs are headed by immigrants, both legal and illegal.”

In Los Angeles County alone during 2013, $650 million was spent on welfare benefits for illegal immigrants, according to Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich of the Department of Public Social Services.

In addition to unbridled welfare benefits, illegal immigrants are provided with in-state tuition breaks. Nearly a decade ago, this scheme, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, would cost besieged taxpayers around $289 million a year.

California Paradigm

Democrats understand the capital harvested from wide open borders and liberal welfare and healthcare policies – both translate into a political monopoly. Overwhelming numbers of Hispanics vote Democrat. “Hispanics of all ages in the U.S. today are more than twice as likely to identify with or lean to the Democratic Party rather than the Republican Party,” Gallup reported in 2013.

“The immigration proposal pending in Congress would transform the nation’s political landscape for a generation or more — pumping as many as 11 million new Hispanic voters into the electorate a decade from now in ways that, if current trends hold, would produce an electoral bonanza for Democrats and cripple Republican prospects in many states they now win easily,” Politico reported last April.

This political monopoly will, however, come at a tremendous cost. According to one study, the cost to U.S. taxpayers of legalizing the current flood of illegal immigrants would be approximately 6.3 trillion dollars over the next 50 years.

Destruction of American Culture

In addition to destroying the economic base of the nation and ultimately impoverishing Americans, unbridled illegal and unrestrained legal immigration will accomplish a primary goal held by the global elite – the destruction of American culture and its heritage grounded in the principles of liberty, private property and individual sovereignty.

“Besides the successful culture of independence, Obama hates the white nature of America,” writes L. Todd Wood. “He is attempting to manage the ethnicity of America and quicken the demise of the white majority. He is attempting to crowd out the American culture of self-reliance and the rule of law with the culture of gang violence of Central America dependent on the federal government. This is a racist strategy that only Hitler could be proud of.”

It is also a strategy the global elite are proud of. If the culture of liberty and the drive for economic prosperity can be successfully destroyed and Americans reduced to third world serfs, the plan for one world government and domination can be realized.

http://www.thedailysheeple.com/gov-jerry-brown-announces-collapse-of-california-and-ultimately-the-u-s_082014

Simulation: New Madrid Quake Would Kill 100,000 Instantly; Displace 7 Million

If you live in and around Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi you might want to consider the following – then again, if you’re reading this web site you probably already have:

 

In May, the federal government simulated an earthquake so massive, it killed 100,000 Midwesterners instantly, and forced more than 7 million people out of their homes. At the time, National Level Exercise 11 went largely unnoticed; the scenario seemed too far-fetched — states like Illinois and Missouri are in the middle of a tectonic plate, not at the edge of one. A major quake happens there once every several generations.
…
National Level Exercise 11, or NLE 11, was, in essence, a replay of a disaster that happened 200 years earlier. On Dec. 16, 1811, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit the New Madrid fault line, which lies on the border region of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. It’s by far the largest earthquake ever to strike the United States east of the Rockies. Up to 129,000 square kilometers [50,000 square miles] were hit with “raised or sunken lands, fissures, sinks, sand blows, and large landslides,” according to the U.S. Geological Service. “Huge waves on the Mississippi River overwhelmed many boats and washed others high onto the shore. High banks caved and collapsed into the river; sand bars and points of islands gave way; whole islands disappeared.” People as far away as New York City were awakened by the shaking. 

More quakes, of a similar size, followed. But the loss of life was minimal: Not too many people lived in the area at the time. Today, there are more than 15 million people living in the quake zone. If a similar quake hit, “7.2 million people could be displaced, with 2 million seeking temporary shelter” in the first three days, FEMA Associate Adminsitrator William Carwile told a Congressional panel in 2010. “Direct economic losses for the eight states could total nearly $300 billion, while indirect losses at least twice that amount.”
Source: Wired Danger Room

Though there is debate over whether or not a New Madrid earthquake is due, the prudent thing to do would be for every individual and family to prepare. The Federal government will be capable of a very limited response, especially in a region-wide disaster on the scale of a 7.7 quake. This means that if it, or even a lower magnitude quake were to take place, individuals would be on their own, and it would be a long time before help arrived:

“Electric power would go out, not for days, but for weeks and months in the four state region,” he said. “Municipal water systems, they all run on electricity, don’t they? Well, people are gonna get thirsty. You need water for firefighting, don’t you? Second, all gasoline pumps run on electric power. Same with diesel fuel. So in terms of road mobility, of getting the relief forces in, and evacuating people out — no gasoline? The cascading failures go on and on.”

In such an event, there would likely be significant strain on the rest of the nation as well. It has also been postulated that a large enough quake in the region could potentially cause flooding for hundreds of miles, literally expanding the width of the Mississippi River and potentially submerging areas of Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

In addition to the well known natural potential for a major earthquake in this area, oil drilling utilizing hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has been active on a mass scale, theoretically increasing the likelihood of a major earthquake:

Canadian Geologist Jack Century crusades against induced seismicity from irresponsible drilling. In a 2009 speech before the Peace River Environmental Society, he provided a brief explanation of how fracking induces earthquakes, completely refuting industry denial that fracking causes quakes. Fracking induces not only micro- and mini-seismic actions that can compromise the integrity of well casings, but also large earthquakes registering on the order of 5 to 7 on the Richter Scale, resulting in human deaths.
Source: Activist Post

While quakes may be a normal occurrence in Arkansas and the surrounding region, recent earthquake data is alarming and may be the reason why the government has been performing simulations and drills:

When comparing Arkansas’ earthquake history with its drilling history, a causative correlation becomes obvious.
The entire 19th century saw 15 recorded earthquakes and none in the first decade of the new century. A total of 694 quakes rocked Arkansas in the 20th century. That number was surpassed in 2009-2010, with the bulk (483) occurring the last three months of 2010.
Source: Activist Post

It’s clear that the potential for a major event in this area is more likely now than at any time in the last 100 years.

FEMA and local emergency management personnel should be focusing their preparedness efforts directly on the individuals in these regions, advising those who live within the seismic zones that in an emergency, no one will be coming to assist, or response will be limited. Currently, the overwhelming focus of their efforts is direct response from government personnel.

Rather than “See Something, Say Something” DHS ads at local grocery stores and retail outlets, perhaps a better strategy would be to promote individual preparedness concepts such as asking people if they have a 30 day preparedness plan, and then going on to describe essential strategies in the event of a an earthquake emergency that include information such as:

• Water and Food
• Medical Supplies
• Disaster Tools
• Emergency Evacuations Plans
• What to do when an earthquake strikes if you’re outside, in your home, or in your car
• And, dealing with critical rescue response if a friend or family member has been trapped under debris

We urge those of our readers in these areas to learn more about personal earthquake response, as well as to coordinate efforts with friends and family outside of the seismic regions in the event you have to evacuate. This includes preparing yourself and family for making the evacuation journey on foot, bikes, or four wheel vehicles, as well as multiple pick-up locations where your contacts can meet you along your evacuation route and when (i.e. — within 3 days of quake we should be here, etc.).

http://www.bioprepper.com/2014/08/27/simulation-new-madrid-quake-would-kill-100000-instantly-displace-7-million/