SEATTLE -- The city unveiled its new Emergency Management Center Wednesday with a tour for the news media and a comment from Mayor Greg Nickels.

"Hopefully we will not be spending a lot of time together in this room," he said.

The emergency center is largely a result of the 6.8-magnitude Nisqually earthquake of Feb. 28, 2001.

A city study after the quake showed that at least a dozen fire stations could be seriously damaged or destroyed by a longer, similar magnitude quake.

In 2003, Seattle voters approved a $167-million levy to fix up the fire stations and construct a new emergency operations center away from the area of downtown subject to liquefaction during an earthquake.

"We're not going to prevent an earthquake from happening," Nickels said in showing off the building and the equipment. "We're not going to be able to prevent storms from striking Seattle, but we can be prepared to save lives, protect property,"

That's the goal of the city's new emergency operations center. It's built downtown, just a few blocks from City Hall; soils engineers say it's on solid ground, designed to withstand the shaking of anybody's lifetime.

Screens monitor everything from KOMO 4 News to CNN. They can monitor roads, and display the city's power and water grids.

Communications is the key. During a federal disaster exercise (Top Off) in Seattle in 2003, emergency communications were severely criticized. The city says that problem has been solved.

"All 68 police and fire agencies, and virtually every other local agency, now use the same radio system," said city communications manager Bill Schrier. "Plus we've used urban-area security funds to connect these radios to Tacoma and Snohomish County and to the federal government."

And just in case, there's a backup. Amateur radio equipment has been installed and volunteer ham radio operators say they are ready to step in.

The emergency center is just part of a $167-million program to upgrade fire stations and emergency communications systems. It won't be completed until 2013.

When Fire Chief Gregory Dean was asked if he has to cross his fingers until 2013, he replied, "I'm hoping it doesn't hit...without a date."

Outside the center, the city displayed a portable system to get fresh water out to communities if disaster strikes. Six of them will be stationed around the city.

The water system is being deployed throughout the Puget Sound area. A system similar to the one in Seattle was used to provide more than 100,000 gallons of water last December to flood victims in Thurston County.