Various agencies, local government units, and educational institutions participated in the nationwide earthquake drill on Thursday.
The duck, cover, and hold technique; various scenarios; and full-scale exercises were demonstrated during the 4th Quarter National Simultaneous Earthquake Drill this year.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, and the Office of Civil Defense organized the drill to check the readiness of government agencies, LGUs, and educational institutions for a catastrophic earthquake.
MMDA officials and employees made the duck, cover, and hold following the alarm and evacuated to the nearby MMDA Motorcycle Riding Academy, which served as the assembly area.
The Public Safety Division conducted a structural integrity inspection at the MMDA building, ensuring its safety and soundness before the personnel returned.
As part of the drill, preparedness, and response skills were performed such as community evacuation, activation of incident command post, fire suppression, search and rescue operations in collapsed structures, response to mass casualty incidents, and high-angle rescue.
The MMDA stated that shake drills were conducted using a simulated 7.2-magnitude tremor with Intensity 8 in the National Capital Region.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) and all airports it supervises also participated in a drill involving personnel from Luzon to Mindanao, including Bicol International Airport, Iloilo International Airport, Tuguegarao Airport, Cauayan Airport, Palanan Airport, Catbalogan Airport, San Jose Airport, Romblon Airport, Calapan Airport, Iba Airport, Pinamalayan Airport, Baler Airport, Ormoc Airport, Mactan-Cebu International Airport, Siquijor Airport, Dumaguete Airport.
“The quarterly nationwide drill intends to ready personnel and stakeholders for the certainty and yet unpredictability of earthquakes. The event also aims to emphasize the preparedness of the Filipino people in the event of a high magnitude earthquake, also known as the Big One,” said CAAP spokesman Eric Apolonio.
Meanwhile, faculty, staff, and students of the Mountain Province State Polytechnic College also carried the duck, cover, and hold as the first response during an earthquake.
MPSPC staff and students proceeded to the identified evacuation area in Eyeb Ground, guided by staff and student marshals. At the evacuation area, the faculty and students were divided into groups while school medics checked each group to ensure that everything was in order.
When an earthquake strikes, the government advises the people to duck or drop to the floor before the shaking knocks them down.
The authorities said people must cover their heads and necks and get under desks and other shelters. They advised the people to hold on to their shelter or continue covering their heads and necks until the shaking stopped.
Should the ‘Big One’ occur, which experts believe would happen anytime, there will be massive destruction in Metro Manila with 35,000 deaths in the first hour alone; over 100,000 injured, and results in an economic loss reaching 2.5 trillion pesos.
