INQUIRER.net PHOTO/TRISTAN TAMAYO
AS sirens wailed at exactly 10:30 a.m. Thursday, more than a thousand mall employees and shoppers rushed outside the new building of SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City and sprinted towards the parking area beside the mall that served as the evacuation area.
As they evacuated, employees from the building were also seen carrying tent poles and tables. In less than five minutes, several rescue stations mushroomed at the open space. At 10:55 a.m., the building was “cleared.”
Holding signs bearing words “EARTHQUAKE DRILL,” officers from Metropolitan Manila Development Authority stopped for 45 seconds all vehicles about to pass through Edsa.
This was part of the Metro Manila-wide Shake Drill in preparation for the feared “the Big One,” or a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that could kill 34,000 persons and displace millions particularly those living in six cities in the city and nearby provinces that sit on top of the West Valley Fault.
The first “injured” victim was found in front of the mall. The bloodied man was immediately put on a stretcher and carried to an ambulance parked nearby for first aid treatment.
At the rescue stations, volunteers rushed to attend to an injured woman, who had a fake pregnant belly, took her inside an ambulance on a stretcher.
Evacuees were also organized in lines according to their employers and areas of assignment, to easily account for missing persons. Customers, persons with disability, pregnant women and the elderly were given special lanes.
All 27 malls
Even the president of SM Supermalls, Annie Garcia, took part in the earthquake drill with hundreds of employees from SM.
“It’s a concern for everybody in the Philippines. News from the national government have been saying that we should all be prepared so we came up with this plan,” Garcia said in an interview with INQUIRER.net.
All 27 SM shopping malls in the metropolis, according to Garcia, participated in the drill. Weeks before the metro-wide drill, she said they have met with their stakeholders, service providers, the SM community and security to prepare for the event.
SM staff distributed flyers informing mall goers that a 30-minute evacuation drill will take place. It was also indicated in the leaflet that the activity would not hamper the mall’s operation.
“It is but natural for us to participate. We house a lot of employees who are our concern. We also have a lot of customers who come day in-day out and the earthquake will happen at any time of the day so this is a good exercise,” she added.
Seamless
During real earthquakes, Emmanuel Miro of the MMDA Office of the Assistant General Manager for Operations, said in an interview that evacuees should be 60 meters away from tall buildings.
“So far the evacuation plan was seamless. Everything went as planned. We started on time. Everyone was able to do their assigned task,” Miro said.
A total of 1,715 individuals joined the drill. Aside from SM personnel, employees of Convergys and Department of Foreign Affairs participated in the activity. Majority of the evacuees were non-traffic personnel of MMDA, including street sweepers.
Miro thanked the sweepers who posed as mall goers evacuating from the building and quipped, “ang kulang lang hindi namin sila nabigyan ng pera pang-shopping.”
Evelyn Battaller, a sweeper at C5-Kalayaan road, was one of the five “casualties” in the drill. “Maganda naman ang assistance at preparation. Agad-agad may treatment,” she told INQUIRER.net when asked to assess the emergency response of rescue team.
As the 30-minute drill ended, organizers, rescue personnel and volunteers began clapping and cheering for a successful simulation of the “huge earthquake.” Some employees and fire volunteers even took selfies with their group.
In less than 15 minutes, evacuees and drill organizers were able to clear the area. Each station set up there was immediately emptied. Not long after, cars were allowed to enter the parking space. Situation inside the mall also went back to normal.
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