By Natalie Patton

Review-Journal

A group of emergency management specialists from the Western states worked in the darkened. ballroom of a Strip megaresort Thursday to respond to a deadly earthquake that rattled the valley, causing natural gas explosions and rupturing a petroleum pipeline between Colton, Calif., and Las Vegas.

The crisis was all on paper and a1l part of an artificial scenario created during the Western Region Energy Emergency Management Exercise.

Emergency management specialists from local governmental agencies and utility representatives from as far away as Alaska will continue today to share and coordinate life-saving strategies at the MGM Grand Hotel & Theme Park, where the group of 130 gathered for the natural disaster exercise.

"Here in Nevada, especially in Las Vegas, "we're not used to thinking about huge catastrophies," said James Hawke, the state of Nevada's chief of emergency services. "When we think of earthquakes and wildfires, we think of neighboring states and the natural disasters they've recently suffered through.

"There's a danger in becoming complacent. We need to think more about what we would do in Nevada if a natural disaster cut out services."

The value of this week's training, Hawke said, is getting emergency preparedness representatives, communications specialists and utility technicians together from the public and private sectors to brainstorm and network.

"If a catastrophe struck, the people in this room would be working together through computers and over the phone," Hawke said. "After this, they'll know who they're dealing with."

?Thursday's exercise included televised broadcasts in which participants were told of a magnitude 7.0 earthquake striking Las Vegas during a February cold spell, when energy consumption was at a peak.

The earthquake followed two others of high magnitude in Southern California.

Las Vegans were suffering the effects of ruptured gas lines, damage to electrical systems and a burning petroleum refinery in California.

"What many do not realize is that Nevada relies heavily on outside energy sources," said Christine Chairsell, director of the Office of Energy and Environmental Education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "With a natural disaster in California or Arizona, we could have a real energy disruption on our hands.

?We're very dependent on interstate commerce," she said, adding a blocked freeway system would, affect shipments of many kinds to Southern Nevada. .

Chairsell said the importance of coordinated emergency management increases when planners consider the millions of tourists visiting Las Vegas annually.

This exercise is not an effort to get everyone together for a scare," she said. "At any given time, there may be 2 million people in Las Vegas. The ability to communicate directions to residents and tourists becomes extremely challenging.

"Going through these exercises leads to better planning and management, if and when a disaster strikes."

Karen Korcheck, left, of the attorney general's office and John Comey, press and legislative secretary from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, announce the news Thursday from a mock television studio at the MGM Grand Hotel.