A seiche wave — the equivalent of a tsunami in Lake Tahoe — is expected to hit the South Shore on Thursday.

Well, not really, but officials from more than 25 regional agencies will pretend the catastrophe strikes for a two-part state disaster-preparedness exercise dubbed Golden Guardian 2008.

“The goal of Golden Guardian 2008 is to better coordinate the activities of city, county, state and federal governments, first responders, volunteer organizations and the private sector to deter, prevent, prepare for, respond to, recover from and minimize the effects of a terrorist attack or catastrophic natural disaster,” according to California’s Office of Homeland Security.

South Lake Tahoe’s portion of the exercise will be focused mostly at an Emergency Operations Center at the Lake Tahoe Airport, meaning residents aren’t likely to notice much out of the ordinary, said Jay Alan, spokesman for the Office of Homeland Security.

One place where residents may see unusual activity Thursday morning is Barton Memorial Hospital, where volunteers playing victims of the disaster will be triaged.

Members of participating agencies will be tasked with coordinating what resources are needed under the disaster scenario, Alan said.

Results of the exercise will be analyzed and could lead to changes in emergency-response plans around the state, said Steve Turner, a spokesman for the Office of Homeland Security.

A larger exercise will held in Southern California beginning Nov. 13. During that portion of Golden Guardian, agencies will practice responding to a 7.8-magnitude earthquake.

South Lake Tahoe was chosen to participate in Golden Guardian at the request of city officials and because Homeland Security tries to incorporate as much of the state as possible in the annual disaster drills, Alan said.

Golden Guardian has taken place since 2005, Alan said.