Taiwan sends earthquake, tsunami test alerts in disaster drill

Taipei, Sept. 20 (CNA) An earthquake test alert was sent to all cellphones across Taiwan, while a tsunami test alert was sent to mobile phones in coastal areas on Friday morning as part of drills held ahead of National Disaster Prevention Day.

The earthquake test alert, simulating a magnitude 7.3 quake warning in Chiayi County, was sent to mobile phones across Taiwan at 9:21 a.m., urging people to "drop, cover and hold on."

At 10 a.m., people in coastal areas received a test alert simulating a tsunami on their phones, followed 10 minutes later by another message informing them the drill had ended.

During the drill, the Central Weather Administration used the Public Warning Cell Broadcast Service to send the test alerts to the public via mobile phones.

At a press conference earlier this month, the Ministry of the Interior said this year's "disaster relief mobilization drills" from Sept. 18-20 would involve more than 1,000 participants from various ministries and local governments.

Taiwan began observing National Disaster Prevention Day on Sept. 21, 2000, one year after a magnitude 7.3 earthquake in central Taiwan killed more than 2,400 people.