SEMA News Release

Jeff Briggs, earthquake program manager for the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency, will serve as president of the National Earthquake Program Managers group. The group represents 33 U.S. states and territories with seismic risks and works with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other partners to lead national preparedness and outreach efforts to improve earthquake preparedness.

Briggs began his one-year term during the National Earthquake Conference, held in March in San Diego. 

SEMA works to increase earthquake preparedness and safety because of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which is centered in the southeast Missouri and produces more than 200 small earthquakes each year. The state’s earthquake program includes the Seismic Safety Commission, a panel of experts that advises the Governor on seismic safety and preparedness, and the Structural Assessment and Visual Evaluation (SAVE) Coalition, a group of more than 1,000 volunteer engineers, architects and building officials trained to quickly assess buildings after an earthquake or tornado.

SEMA’s earthquake program also coordinates Missouri’s participation in the Great Central U.S. ShakeOut earthquake drill held every year in October, with more than one-half million participants statewide, as well as an annual earthquake summit attended by hundreds of professionals learning the latest in earthquake preparedness, response and recovery.

Briggs has been SEMA’s earthquake program manager since 2015, and has worked in state government for almost 30 years, handling communications, training and project management for SEMA as well as the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Missouri is one of eight member States of the Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC), a Memphis-based organization focused on earthquake risk reduction.

For more information, call 573-751-6294 or e-mail caty.luebbert@sema.dps.mo.gov