The government urged people to stay calm and keep safe when they receive text messages on Wednesday next week to simulate warnings of an earthquake and tsunami as part of drills to observe the 23rd anniversary of the deadly 921 Earthquake.
Two text messages are to be sent to mobile phone users on Wednesday warning of an earthquake at 9:21am and a tsunami at 9:25am, a statement issued by the Ministry of the Interior yesterday showed.
In the simulated scenario, a magnitude 8.0 undersea earthquake would strike the east coast at 9:21am and trigger a tsunami at 9:25am, causing buildings to collapse, damaging roads and bridges, disrupting telecommunication services and killing many people, the statement said.
The text message warning for the earthquake would be accompanied by the alarm that typically sounds on mobile phones when earthquakes occur.
When the alarm goes off, people should take steps to “keep safe” during the simulation, such as drop to the ground, take cover under a desk or stand in a corner, and hold on during the drill, the ministry said.
The tsunami alert would also be accompanied by a mobile phone alarm and an outdoor warning siren in coastal areas.
Meanwhile, all cable TV channels would be automatically switched to the Public Television Service, the local public broadcasting network, for a disaster prevention information broadcast from 10:59am to 11:01am, the statement said.
The drill is also being staged to test the authorities’ ability to coordinate operations for a large-scale disaster that would involve about 1,000 emergency responders, the ministry said.
Sept. 21 is National Disaster Prevention Day, which was first observed in 2000 to commemorate the 1999 earthquake that killed more than 2,400 people and injured more than 11,000.
It was the second-deadliest earthquake in Taiwan’s history, after the April 1935 earthquake north of Taichung, which caused more than 3,200 fatalities.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
ENHANCING EFFICIENCY: The apron can accommodate 16 airplanes overnight at Taoyuan airport while work on the third runway continues, the transport minister said A new temporary overnight parking apron at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to start operating on Friday next week to boost operational efficiency while the third runway is being constructed, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The apron — one of the crucial projects in the construction of the third runway — can accommodate 16 aircraft overnight at the nation’s largest international airport, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told reporters while inspecting the new facility yesterday morning. Aside from providing the airport operator with greater flexibility in aircraft parking during the third runway construction,
American climber Alex Honnold is to attempt a free climb of Taipei 101 today at 9am, with traffic closures around the skyscraper. To accommodate the climb attempt and filming, the Taipei Department of Transportation said traffic controls would be enforced around the Taipei 101 area. If weather conditions delay the climb, the restrictions would be pushed back to tomorrow. Traffic controls would be in place today from 7am to 11am around the Taipei 101 area, the department said. Songzhi Road would be fully closed in both directions between Songlian Road and Xinyi Road Sec 5, it said, adding that bidirectional traffic controls would
RSS