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Local, state and federal task forces initiated a series of search and rescue training programs in Columbia this morning.

The scenarios center around aid response in the wake of an earthquake in the New Madrid Fault Zone.

The exercises include different scenarios like rescuing people amid heaps of concrete.

The "victims" were all given roles and made up with lifelike injuries.

While the New Madrid Fault Zone has been active in the past, Columbia Fire Department Battalion Chief Brad Fraizer said this was just an opportunity for all the different agencies to learn how to work together.

With recent natural disasters fresh in everyone's minds, the goal of this training is to be as prepared as possible in the event of a catastrophic incident.