Mock earthquake has Valley entities scrambling

PALMER — As the day progressed, the scripted scenario playing out on emergency band radio traffic and government social media postings grew steadily worse.

The 9.9-magnitude quake in Palmer collapsed part of the Mat-Su Borough’s main administration building. Staff and members of the public were injured. It also partially collapsed Colony Middle School and Finger Lake Elementary. Students — injured and not — were evacuated from both. Then a fire broke out, eventually engulfing a gas station.

“At this point we’re going to abandon all hope of extinguishing the fire,” a fire commander said on the radio. Just focus on saving people, he told his responders. Get on your loudspeakers and drive through the neighborhood urging evacuation, the voice instructed.

Don’t worry if you missed all of this excitement. It was only make-believe, the first day of a three-day exercise as part of Alaska Shield, a yearly disaster preparedness event.

And while the event is always large — a chance for local responders to make sure they know how to use equipment they very seldom get a chance to try out — this year’s exercise is unprecedented in size and scale. The scenario chosen this year was an earthquake about the size of the 1964 Good Friday earthquake, the anniversary of which was Thursday.

Organizers say 500 people will be in the borough participating in exercises through Saturday. There are large state organizations — the Alaska National Guard — and every level of local government — the cities of Palmer, Houston and Wasilla, as well as the Mat-Su Borough and the Mat-Su Borough School District. There are also private and charitable organizations — Mat-Su Regional Medical Center and Alaska’s branch of the American Red Cross. There are even groups from out of state — search dogs and rescue teams from Washington state, a National Guard hazardous materials team from Nebraska and the global relief organization Samaritan’s Purse.

That exercise in Palmer on the radio was just the start. The borough opened its Emergency Operations Center on Thursday and staffed it as it would during a real catastrophic emergency.

At 1:10 p.m., top officials gathered for a mock press conference in the equipment bays at the big downtown fire station off Lucille Street in Wasilla.

“We’re responding to life and safety needs first,” Mat-Su Borough Mayor Larry DeVilbiss said into the cameras.

“Please be assured that our employees are trained to respond to these type of emergencies,” Mat-Su Borough Assemblyman Matthew Beck said. “Be calm and help your neighbors.”

Officials provided casualty estimates — 500 to 1,000 injured, 50 to 100 dead — and said where to go if your home isn’t safe — the nearest school, or the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center in Wasilla.

“With God’s help we’ll get through this well,” Wasilla Mayor Verne Rupright said.

“If you’re a praying person, say some prayers for the people that are still out there,” said Palmer Mayor DeLena Johnson.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270

or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.