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Welcome to the West Tennessee Seismic Safety Commission's website.
This website is designed to assist the commission in carrying out its day to day business; inform the public of commission activities; and to provide access to authoritative disaster preparedness information and resources through appropriate emergency management partners.
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The West Tennessee Seismic Safety Commission (WTSSC) has been tasked to initiate, with the assistance of state, federal, and local government agencies, a comprehensive program to prepare the state for responding to a major earthquake. WTSSC is a twelve (12) member board appointed as follows: two (2) members chosen by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, two (2) members chosen by the Speaker of the Senate and eight (8) members appointed by the governor. The WTSSC represent the following professional areas: architecture, fire protection, public utilities, engineering, geology or seismology, local government, insurance, business, emergency health services, nonprofit emergency assistance, local education and emergency management.
The West Tennessee Seismic Safety Commission (WTSSC) was created through the Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 58, Section 4. The Center for Earthquake Research and Information (CERI) at the University of Memphis (created by Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-8-602) is authorized and directed to provide any information or services requested by the commission to achieve its goals.
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Information on the 5.2 Mag earthquake near Mt. Carmel IL. is available here.

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Recent Commission Events of Interest: November 2009
WTSSC Chair, Elaine Clyburn, will represent the Commission at the upcoming National Disaster Recovery Stakeholder Forum in Memphis on November 23, 2009. The event will be held at the Marriott Memphis Downtown with participation from numerous emergency planning and response agencies and non-governmental organizations. The goal of the meeting will be to identify existing perceptions of recovery; identify best practice examples; identify challenges and obstacles to success; and share experiences and lessons learned. These discussions will help shape a Report to the President and the National Disaster Recovery Framework. See http://www.fema.gov/recoveryframework/ for details on this federal initiative.
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Meet the Commissioners
Kevin Brent John Bucy Elaine M. Clyburn Clifford M. DeBerry E. Scott Fleming Theodore C. Fox Richard Holliday Stephen Horton Janice Millsaps Barry W. Moore Franklin Smith Stan Weinrich
WTSSC meetings are open to the public and time is set aside for everyone to meet each other.
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WEST TENNESSEE SEISMIC SAFETY COMMISSION FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT: WTSSC Executive Secretary, Beverly Cook, 901 678 5561 WTSSC Executive Director, Gary Patterson, 901 678 5264 Please check back for next commission meeting.
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For information on past meetings, please follow the link below.
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Our Partners in the Effort
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The WTSSC and TEMA announce the winners of Earthquake Awareness Week 2009. Congratulations to all the winners.
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| Gen. Bassham of TEMA and WTSSC announce winners of Earthquake Awareness Week 2009 Poster Contest. |
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The Commission Chair is passed along.
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| Commissioner Ted Fox (Left) being honored by Commission Chair Barry Moore (Right) for his previous tenure as WTSSC Chair. |
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The West Tennessee Seismic Safety Commission would like to thank Commissioner Ted Fox for his dedication and commitment. Commissioner Fox has served as Commission Chair for the past year and was the founding chair. Thank you Commissioner Fox for everything you have done.
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Contact Information
Meeting Information: Beverly Cook Government Relations University of Memphis 322 Administration Bldg. Memphis, TN 38152 (901) 678-5561 Office (901) 678-0863 Fax
becook@memphis.edu
Technical Information: Gary Patterson, Geologist Information Services Director Center for Earthquake Research and Information The University of Memphis (901) 678-5264 Office (901) 678-4734 Fax www.ceri.memphis.edu
glpttrsn@memphis.edu
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| This map of the New Madrid and Wabash seismic zones shows earthquakes as circles. Red circles indicate earthquakes that occurred from 1974 to 2002 with magnitudes larger than 2.5 located using modern instruments (University of Memphis). Green circles denote earthquakes that occurred priror to 1974 (USGS Professional Paper 1527). Larger earthquakes are represented by larger circles. Source USGS Fact Sheet 2006-3125 January 2007. |
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