Duck, cover, hold! Take 2 for Shake Drill at 9 a.m. today

FOR THE SECOND nationwide “Shake Drill” to be staged this morning, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is counting on more residents, government workers and private sector employees to participate in the event which will simulate a 7.2-magnitude earthquake scenario.

Just like in the first drill held in July last year, radio stations will broadcast “reports” of an earthquake at 9 a.m., while church bells, alarms and sirens will signal the start of the exercise.

Everyone is asked to do the “duck, cover and hold” drill before evacuating their work places and proceeding to open areas near their location.

Motorists on the road should be prepared to stop for a minute when the simulation starts. Some roads will be closed to traffic as early as 6 a.m.

The MMDA said there will be no disruption of communication or power lines.

The MRT and LRT lines will stop at 9 a.m. for the drill.

Metro Manila will again be divided into the East, West, North and South quadrants under “Oplan Yakal,” which designates different command centers for emergency responders as well as staging areas for different rescue and evacuation scenarios.