Evansville is among four cities chosen by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to host the first community forums for a new initiative called QuakeSmart, which is designed to encourage business leaders and owners to take actions that will mitigate damage to businesses and towns in the event of an earthquake.

"A community cannot fully recover from a damaging earthquake until its businesses have recovered," David Maurstad, assistant administrator of the Mitigation Directorate at FEMA, said in a news release.

"And it is the small and emerging businesses that are the least prepared to endure an earthquake or rebound from one."

FEMA is teaming with the Atlanta-based Safe America Foundation, which focuses on safety and disaster preparedness, to lead the QuakeSmart effort. The program's goal is to build awareness within the business community of the risk of earthquakes and to educate businesses on the simple things they can do to reduce the effect of earthquakes and support community preparedness, according to the release.

September forums are planned in Evansville, Monterey, Calif., Reno, Nev., and Cape Girardeau, Mo.

The date and location of the Evansville forum was not available late Sunday.

"By cooperating with area chambers of commerce, government agencies, business owners and operators, we hope to engage the community leadership to spearhead the effort to promote earthquake mitigation throughout the community," Len Pagano, president and CEO of Safe America, said in the release.

For further information about the program or to learn how to register for the Evansville forum, contact Henry Munford at henry.munford@safe[SR]america.org or visit www.quakesmart.org after Aug. 1.