MMDA: ‘No stone left unturned’ to ensure quake drill success

Participants of the Metro Manila Shake Drill pose for a group photo by the end of the successful exercise. Photo by Julliane Love De Jesus/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

No stone will be left unturned during the conduct of the second metro-wide earthquake drill on Wednesday, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) assured as it hopes to surpass the success of the previous “Metro Manila Shake Drill” last year.

“We are making sure that no stone is left unturned to guarantee that the second Shake Drill will be equally successful and that all the challenges and problems encountered last year are now properly addressed,” MMDA Chairman Emerson Carlos said in a statement on Monday.

At least 6.5 million people participated in the first ever quake drill in the capital region in July 2015.

READ: 1st-ever Metro shake drill ‘dream fulfilled’

The MMDA chairman at that time was Francis Tolentino, who resigned amid the “Playgirls” controversy. He ran for senator in May but lost.

Carlos said the MMDA had been eagerly preparing for the simulation, “hoping to duplicate if not surpass” the previous quake drill.

At exactly 9 a.m. on Wednesday, school bells, door bells, church bells, sirens and vehicle horns will be simultaneously heard to signal the start of the simulation exercise.

Critical scenarios, such as fire, collapsed bridges and buildings, and derailment of trains, will also be simulated to see how rescue teams react and respond.

The drill aims to raise Metro Manila residents’ level of preparedness should a 7.2-magnitude quake hit the region and  nearby provinces.

READ: Nationwide shake drill on June 22 to be more ‘realistic’

“We hope to institutionalize this exercise so that the public may develop a culture of preparedness,” Carlos said.

At the MMDA headquarters along Edsa Guadalupe in Makati City, all 16 city and municipal mayors of Metro Manila will attend a ceremony where a siren will be sounded off at 8:30 a.m.

The earthquake drill will be held simultaneously in Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, and Laguna. JE/rga