MANILA – The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Thursday said the scheduled earthquake drill later this month aims to prepare residents in the region should a tremor happen at the wee hours of the day.
In a press briefing at the MMDA central office in Makati, MMDA General Manager Jose Arturo “Jojo” Garcia said the drill is scheduled at 4 a.m. on July 27.
He said the drill was scheduled specifically at a time while most people are still asleep since casualties and property damages are worse when earthquakes occur during this time.
“Hindi natin tinatakot ang tao (We are not doing this to scare the people). We’re doing this to prepare everyone and to minimize damages and loss of life,” Garcia said.
He said the scheduled drill aims to gauge the reaction of people during earthquakes at night, preparedness and response capabilities of local government units (LGUs) and the level of participation of the private sector.
In partnership with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), the MMDA will send emergency notifications to all mobile phones within the target area.
He added they will release an assessment of the drill on Monday or Tuesday after the event.
The four earthquake quadrants of Metro Manila were previously formulated by Oplan Yakal of the Metro Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MMDRRC) after taking into consideration a study which said Metro Manila could be split into four after a major earthquake.
These four quadrants are split into Sub-Task Force North (San Juan, Mandaluyong, and Quezon City), Sub-Task Force South (Makati, Pasay, Pateros, Paranaque, Taguig, Las Pinas, and Muntinlupa), Sub-Task Force East (Marikina and Pasig) and Sub-Task Force West (Valenzuela, Malabon, Navotas, Caloocan, and Manila). (PNA)
