1 M students to participate in national earthquake drill

Girding for the worst, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) is conducting a simultaneous nationwide earthquake drill today with some one million students from 42,000 public and private schools participating.

NDCC officials said that by 9 a.m. today, between 1,000 and 8,000 students from each of the participating schools will be drilled in evacuation procedures, while engineers will test how fast they can check the structural integrity of buildings after an earthquake.

In a joint press briefing attended by the government agencies concerned, NDCC chairman and Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz Jr. said the nationwide earthquake drill is part of the government’s disaster preparedness program.

"It is very important for us to prepare for a powerful earthquake. It’s not farfetched that it could happen to the Philippines," Cruz said.

He said the powerful earthquakes such as those recently hitting Indonesia and Japan could happen at any time in the Philippines which, like Japan and Indonesia, sits within the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where there is much higher seismic activity, including earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Close to 5,000 people were killed when a powerful earthquake and aftershocks jolted the Indonesian province of Yogyakarta last month.

"The objective of the drill is to test the preparedness of school administrators and the school populace in responding to a strong earthquake," Cruz said.

The drill focuses mainly on students because schoolchildren are often most vulnerable when earthquakes strike, he said.

As emphasized in a memorandum issued to school heads by the Department of Education (DedEd) said the NDCC-sponsored drill should give emphasis to the safety of students, teachers and staff in the event of an earthquake.

The drill will also enable school administrators and their disaster action groups to design specific earthquake-response plans for their schools.

It will also help train teachers, school staff and students to practice proper action and responses during earthquakes and test various elements of the response plans designed by school disaster management committees.

The NDCC selected 152 regional pilot schools to serve as local launching venues for the drill.

Private schools have volunteered their participation and are also on the list of regional pilot schools that will take part in the drill.

In Metro Manila, the Sta. Elena High School in Marikina City was designated as the launching venue for today’s drill.

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) Director Renato Solidum said the whole country, except the province of Palawan in the west, is at risk of potentially deadly earthquakes.

"Palawan is the only province where there is no active earthquake generator," Solidum added, advising the public not to panic if an earthquake hits because this could make matters worse.

"The Philippines is really covered with faults, so the entire country will be affected" should a major earthquake hit, Cruz said.

During today’s drill, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is teaming up with at least two engineers’ groups to check the structural integrity of buildings nationwide.

In Metro Manila alone, 60 buildings, including six schools, were found to be structurally unsound, Cruz said.

He said six of these school buildings are now undergoing repairs, with local governments footing the bill.

The worst earthquake to hit the country in recent years was the July 1990 temblor, in which thousands died in Luzon. — Jaime Laude, Sheila Crisostomo