Amid the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) opted to conduct the second quarter Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) via virtual means on Thursday, June 9.
The ceremonial sounding of the buzzer was held at 9 a.m. and viewers participated by practicing the "duck, cover, and hold" stance. Pointers on what to do before, during, and after an earthquake were also discussed to keep the public informed of the best courses of action in the event of such disaster.
The virtual earthquake drill recorded 105,432 views and 80,380 engagements an hour after its livestream at the NDRRMC and Office of Civil Defense’s social media pages ended. This was the 8th virtual earthquake drill held by the NDRRMC since the onset of the pandemic in 2020.
“Ang pagpapatuloy ng mga pagsasanay na ito ang nagbibigay kapanatagan sa ating mga mamamayan na ang ating pamahalaan at buong lipunan ay may kakayahan at hindi tumitigil sa paghahanda upang harapin ang mga kalamidad na maaaring danasin ng ating bayan (The continuation of these exercises give assurance to our people that we will be ready to face any calamity that our nation may encounter in the future),” said NDRRMC Chairperson and Department of National Defense (DND) Sec. Delfin Lorenzana in his keynote message.
Meanwhile, Undersec.Ricardo Jalad, NDRRMC Executive Director and Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Administrator, emphasized the importance of a “united effort” in making communities ready and safe against the effects of calamities such as earthquakes.
“Malaki ang nagagawa ng ating pagtutulungan sa pagsasakatuparan ng ating adhikaing gawing mas ligtas ang bawat komunidad. Malinaw na nakikita natin ito sa pamamagitan ng inyong palaging pagsali ating gawain na nagpapakita ng patuloy na pag-unlad ng kamalayan at kahandaan ng sambayanan. Nais naming mas mapayabong pa ito (Our cooperation contributes so much in making these kinds of activities a success to keep each community safe. We can clearly see this through the regular participation in activities that raise the awareness and preparedness of the public. We want to improve this),” Jalad said.
The NSED is a quarterly event that seeks to strengthen the earthquake preparedness of the public.
Due to the pandemic, the conduct of the earthquake drill was moved online in 2020.
The 3rd Quarter NSED will be held on September 8.