CUSEC and the constituent CUSEC Member States use exercises as an opportunity to conduct joint planning, and test information sharing and shared situational awareness capabilities. While earthquake scenarios frame most exercises, some exercises explore other types of disasters. This page includes examples of, and related resources for, exercises that CUSEC and CUSEC Members have participated in.
Shaken Fury 2019
Capstone 2014
Under the direction of the CUSEC Board of Directors, CAPSTONE-14 was a three-year, multi-state scope of planning and preparedness activities culminating in a major, multi-state earthquake exercise in June 2014. It was designed to strengthen partnerships between local, state, and federal governments, while engaging public and private sector entities in planning response and recovery from a catastrophic earthquake occurring within the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ).
CAPSTONE-14 included mitigation, preparedness, recovery, and response planning activities that directly support legislation in the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program. Additionally, the exercise supported plans to improve building inspection capabilities and promote code adoption to enhance seismic safety and community resilience. CAPSTONE-14 built off of lessons learned during the New Madrid Seismic Zone Catastrophic Planning Project and National Level Exercise 2011 (NLE11).
In November, 2014, CUSEC released the CAPSTONE-14 exercise “After-Action Report” (AAR).
NLE-2011
CUSEC and Member States participated in the 2011 National Level Exercise (NLE-2011). Leading up to the exercise, CUSEC coordinated a series of regional workshops leading to a Resource Allocation Workshop (RAW), providing an opportunity for comprehensive planning to coordinate mobilization, staging, deployment, and tracking of the vast amount of resources needed in such a catastrophic event as a New Madrid earthquake.
In December 2011, CUSEC prepared an “After Action Report” for the NMSZ Catastrophic Planning Project (13MB PDF). This report catalogs in detail the five years of planning efforts and highly successful results of the project and the NLE-11.
