Nationwide earthquake drill set for March 25; public participation urged

Employees of Quezon City General Hospital participate in the nationwide simultaneous earthquake drill on Thursday, September 10, 2020. (File photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — The public is urged to participate in a nationwide earthquake drill on Monday, March 25.

The Office of Civil Defense will hold the Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) at 9:00 a.m. with Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, as the ceremonial site.

“We ask for the participation of various sectors in this activity,” OCD Administrator Ariel Nepomuceno said in a statement.

“While the NSED teaches us what to do during an earthquake, this activity is not enough,” he added. “There are more strategies and interventions that we must implement.”

READ: Getting ready for the ‘Big One’

At the ceremonial site, a camp-wide evacuation drill and communication exercises will be conducted to demonstrate and test the government’s coordination mechanisms in the event of a magnitude 7.2 earthquake due to the movement of the West Valley Fault.

The so-called Big One — a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hitting Metro Manila — is expected to kill at least 52,000 people and injure around 500,000, according to a 2019 study by risk assessment and consultancy firm PSA Philippines Consultancy Inc.

READ: Earthquake preparedness saves lives: What to do

The government-initiated nationwide earthquake drill is conducted quarterly. The NSED for the fourth quarter of 2023 was held last November 9, with the OCD reminding the public to remember to avoid panic and to “Duck, Cover, and Hold” during an earthquake.

Last quarter’s NSED was live-streamed on the Facebook pages of the OCD – Civil Defense PH and National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

According to the OCD, the nationwide earthquake drill was conceptualized in the aftermath of the destructive quake in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on May 27, 2006.