Taiwan is to hold plane crash and earthquake drills tomorrow as part of a three-day national exercise ahead of National Disaster Prevention Day on Saturday, the Ministry of the Interior said.
More than 1,300 participants — including members of the public, central and local government officials, and staff from a Japanese non-governmental organization — would participate in the drills, the ministry said in a statement.
The plane crash drill, simulating a plane crash following a typhoon, would be held in Penghu County, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The Penghu (澎湖輪) ferry would transport firefighters and rescue vehicles to the island on the day of the exercises, and an evacuation center and international rescue reception would held at Penghu Airport, Liu said.
An air force C-130H military transport and Coast Guard Administration patrol ships would be deployed to Penghu, while Peace Winds Japan, a non-governmental organization supporting people affected by humanitarian crises and disasters, would also participate in the exercise, she said.
The drill would be Taiwan’s first large-scale offshore disaster relief exercise, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, another drill on the same day would simulate a magnitude 7.3 earthquake in Chiayi County’s Jhuci Township (竹崎) resulting in casualties and the collapse of numerous buildings, Liu said.
The Chukou Fault, an active reverse fault, runs through Jhuci.
The central government would collaborate with the Chiayi county and city governments to conduct tabletop exercises, establish disaster response centers, carry out search-and-rescue operations, test emergency communication systems and evaluate search-and-rescue procedures, Liu said.
In addition to tomorrow’s drill, the Central Weather Administration would send a text alert to mobile phones nationwide at 9:21am on Friday, along with an alarm sound.
The message would warn people to “duck, take cover and remain still,” Liu said.
Sirens would also sound across the country at 10am, warning people in coastal towns to be aware of a possible tsunami, she added.
From 10:59am to 11:01am, all TV channels would cut to the Public Television Service for a two-minute broadcast of disaster prevention information, she said.
Taiwan began observing National Disaster Prevention Day on Sept. 21, 2000, a year after the 921 Earthquake, which measured 7.3 on the Richter scale and killed more than 2,400 people.
Over the years National Disaster Prevention Day has evolved into the “National Disaster Prevention Month,” the ministry said.
A series of disaster prevention activities, including nationwide school earthquake evacuation drills, the establishment of disaster preparedness sections in stores, and expanded disaster prevention training for government officials and private citizens began on Sept. 1.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS