The Metro Manila Development Authority is set to hold its annual “Shake Drill” to prepare the people in the event a big quake strikes the National Capital Region.
But the MMDA said the exact date of the Metro Manila Shake Drill this month would not be announced.
“No one can predict when an earthquake will happen. We must be prepared at all times so we want the shake drill unannounced,” said MMDA general manager Jojo Garcia.
On its fourth year, the MMDA, with the Metro Manila Disaster Management Council, will lead the shake drill any day in the third week of July.
“We will not be announcing the exact date of the shake drill. Public will only be informed on the day of the drill,” said Garcia.
The shake drill, which will run for three days, aims to sustain and improve the public’s awareness and consciousness towards a 7.2 magnitude earthquake.
“We want to do a shake drill in a more realistic environment,” said Garcia.
For his part, Michael Salalima, Metro Manila Shake Drill Secretariat head, said telecommunication networks would broadcast the drill through SMS messages to its subscribers on a specific day.
Companies, churches, schools, and institutions are urged to sound their own alerts or bells while radio stations will air an alert to signal the start of the drill at 3 pm.
Salalima said he hoped different stakeholders could take advantage of the activity to test their contingency plans.
“What we want to evaluate is the people’s level of awareness and discipline instilled during the past three years,” said Salalima.
The MMDA will come into play by mobilizing personnel to designated emergency operation centers in four quadrants in the metropolis.
The western quadrant, composed of Navotas, Malabon, and Manila, will use the Intramuros Golf Course as evacuation area.
The northern quadrant, composed of Quezon City, Caloocan, Valenzuela, San Juan, will use the Veterans Memorial Medical Center Golf Course and Quezon Memorial Circle as evacuation camps.
The eastern quadrant, composed of Marikina and Pasig, will use the LRT 2 Santolan Depot.
The southern quadrant, composed of Pasay, Makati, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Pateros, and Taguig, will use the Villamor Golf Course as evacuation center.
The MMDA created Earthquake Contingency Plan or Oplan Metro Yakal Plus, a Metro Manila Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council’s response tool based on the 7.2 magnitude movement of the West Valley Fault with Intensity 8 ground shaking.
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology director Renato Solidum said the intensity of the ground shaking from the WVF with a 7.2 magnitude earthquake would not only affect Metro Manila but would also be felt in nearby provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, and Laguna.
He said with an Intensity 8 earthquake, the scenarios of fire incidents, collapsed structures, and hazardous traffic incidents would occur.