MADISON, Wis. (WTAQ) - Wisconsin officials plan to be ready the next time the ground shakes. They’ll take part in a massive drill next year, aimed at getting the middle part of the country ready to respond to an earthquake. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been working with 8 other states – including Illinois and Indiana – to help them get ready for the big one.

FEMA says a large earthquake in the nation’s mid-section could cause widespread damage, because the earth’s crust shakes with a greater distance and efficiency than the land out West. FEMA has been performing various exercises with the 8 states – and the effort will culminate next May with a full-scale exercise involving those states and their neighbors, including Wisconsin.

Much of southern Wisconsin felt the ground shake on February 10th, when a tremor took place near DeKalb Illinois. It was the 8th quake in the last 15 years to be felt in Milwaukee. In 2008, a tremor from southern Illinois was felt as far north as Chippewa Falls.