Taiwan to hold disaster response drills, test quake alerts in September

Taipei, Aug. 28 (CNA) Taiwan will hold a series of drills in September, which will include trials of its earthquake warning system, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) said Thursday.

Scheduled for Sept. 17-19 to coincide with the annual National Disaster Prevention Day, the drills will simulate a magnitude 8.5 quake in the Ryukyu Trench east of Taiwan, followed by a tsunami, Deputy Interior Minister Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said at a press conference.

The main event will be a three-day exercise in Yilan County, simulating large-scale rescue operations in the wake of an earthquake and tsunami, Ma said.

An earthquake rescue drill will also be held at Xinzhuang Sports Park in New Taipei City on Sept. 18 and 19, he said.

As part of the disaster response exercise, an earthquake alert will be sent to mobile phones throughout Taiwan at 9:21 a.m. on Sept. 19, advising people to "drop, take cover, and hold on," Ma said.

At 9:30 a.m. on the same day, a tsunami warning will be issued to people in coastal areas of the country, and from 10:59 to 11:01 a.m., all television stations will cut to the Public Television Service channel, where disaster prevention messages will be broadcast, he said.

Taiwan initiated National Disaster Prevention Day on Sept. 21, 2000, one year after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck its central regions, killing more than 2,400 people.

This year, the National Fire Agency will also conduct various disaster prevention drills and awareness campaigns, from Sept. 1 to Oct. 31, according to the agency's Deputy Director-General Feng Chun-yi (馮俊益).