Responders hone parachuting, other skills at doomsday drill

Thursday's exercise was part of a four-day event that ends Friday, called Cascadia Rising, built around the premise of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake 95 miles off the coast of Oregon that results in a tsunami.

For the drill, the airfield and adjoining Mason County Fairgrounds have been converted into a staging area with hundreds of members of the National Guard, a tactical operations center where officials communicate directly with officials at Camp Murray and a trauma center.

"After a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake, we fully anticipate that roads are going to be cut off, bridges are going to be down and we're going to have isolated pockets of people that are going to need some help and support," said Major General Bret Daugherty, commander of the Washington National Guard.

Officials say about 20,000 people have been involved in the disaster drill throughout the Pacific Northwest, representing federal agencies, the U.S. military, and state and local emergency response managers from Washington, Oregon and Idaho, Native American tribes and emergency management officials in British Columbia.

First Sgt. Kent Keller of the Washington National Guard said that these drills allow them to make mistakes now, so they don't make them later during the real thing.