5,000 people in Metro Manila join 1st quarter earthquake drill

MANILA, Philippines - About 5,000 people in Metro Manila joined the 1st quarter nationwide simultaneous earthquake drill held on Friday.

The drill simulated a magnitude 7.2 earthquake in the Valley Fault System that will rock Metro Manila and nearby provinces Bulacan, Rizal, and Laguna.

Office of Civil Defense spokesperson Mina Marasigan said the scenario was derived from the findings of the Metro Manila Earthquake Impact Reduction Study conducted in 2004 and the GMMA (Greater Metro Manila Area) READY project in 2014.

Marikina City Hall served as the ceremonial pilot venue of the activity. The Armed Forces General Headquarters grandstand in Camp Aguinaldo and the Light Rail Transit 2 Santolan Station served as secondary pilot venues.

Incident command system facilities, incident command post with communications center, staging areas, helispots and field hospitals were set up in the pilot venues.

“We have been conducting drills using various scenarios for years, and these drills have continuously assisted us in the attainment of our goal: that is, to instill proactiveness on our people, and promote preparedness and capability upgrade on the part of our local government,” Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said during the drill in Marikina.

“These drills provide us a sense of security that the local governments are capable and ready to face calamities,” he added.

Government offices, commercial establishments and non-government organizations joined the drill, which was also held in Ilocos Sur, Isabela, Bataan, Cavite, Oriental Mindoro, Naga City, Bacolod City, Cebu City, Samar, Zamboanga City, Misamis Oriental, Davao del Norte, South Cotabato, Cordillera, Agusan del Norte.

The drill was intended to test existing response and contingency plans and to highlight the government’s capability to respond to emergency situations.