07/09/2022
NDRRMC enjoins public to join in Q3 earthquake drill this Thursday
(September 7, 2022)
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council is once again calling on the public to join the Third Quarter Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) and do the DUCK, COVER, and HOLD, tomorrow, Thursday, 9:00A.M. The program will begin at 8:00A.M and will be held at the Legazpi Corner, Legazpi Village, Makati City.
This will be attended by Department of National Defense (DND) Undersecretary Franco Nemesio Gacal, Civil Defense Administrator and NDRRMC Executive Director, Undersecretary Raymundo Ferrer, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairperson Carlo Dimayuga III, Makati City Mayor Mar-Len Abigail Binay, and other officials and representatives from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), and Ayala Property Management Corporation.
A full-scale exercise will be conducted to test the response capabilities of the Makati Local Government Unit in the event of a 7.2 Magnitude Earthquake. Scenarios include community evacuation, activation of incident command post, fire suppression, search and rescue in collapsed structures, response to mass casualty incident, and high angle rescue.
A press conference is also scheduled after the drill.
This quarter’s NSED is the first face-to-face drill since the pandemic. This will be live streamed via Civil Defense PH and NDRRMC pages.
Stakeholders are encouraged to conduct drills simultaneously in support of the NSED while strictly observing minimum public health standards.
The NDRRMC reiterates that institutions, government and private organizations, and establishments may opt not to conduct evacuation drills if the circumstances do not permit.
“Bagaman, magsisimula na tayong magsagawa ng face-to-face NSED sa Makati at ating hinihikayat na gawin na din ang evacuation drill matapos ang ating karaniwang pagda-Duck, Cover, and Hold, aming nililinaw na HINDI MANDATORY ang pagsasagawa ng EVACUATION DRILL. Nasa desisyon ito ng mga institusyon at mga tanggapan na silang mag-a-assess sa sitwasyon kung maaari bang maisagawa ang evacuation drill. Kung hindi man, gaya ng ating mga nagdaang NSED nitong pandemya, maaari nilang panoorin ang livestream ng ceremonial pressing of the button at isagawa na lamang ang Duck, Cover, and Hold,” Civil Defense Deputy Administrator for Operations and NDRRMC Spokesperson, Assistant Secretary Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said last Friday. #
