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.
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