Taiwan must use technology and public-private collaboration to enhance resilience to natural disasters, President William Lai (賴清德) said after inspecting an earthquake drill in Chiayi County yesterday.
First responders, drones and robots, search-and-rescue teams, and diplomats from nine countries took part in the disaster simulation exercises held yesterday — a day before National Disaster Prevention Day.
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.
Photo: Lin Yi-chang, Taipei Times
The nation’s efforts to step up disaster prevention and response have yielded results, as evidenced by the performance of the first responders and participating civilians, including the students and faculty of Sianhe Elementary School, Lai said.
The exercises, which included a simulated quake in Chiayi and a typhoon in Penghu, further tested the nation’s capabilities to mobilize, deploy and coordinate first responders by air, sea and land, he added.
Lai also thanked foreign search-and-rescue teams and diplomatic staff, saying their participation in the drills facilitated Taiwan’s international cooperation in disaster response.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
The county government and its townships, the armed forces, National Fire Agency, Ministry of Health and Welfare, utility companies and numerous volunteer groups have proved their ability to work together under a unified chain of command, the president said.
Lai also commended the ministries of national defense, health and welfare, and digital affairs, as well as the National Fire Agency, for providing medical, communications, and search-and-rescue operations, he said.
As part of the disaster tests, a quake alert was sent to all cellphones across Taiwan, while a tsunami alert was sent to mobile phones in coastal areas yesterday morning.
The test simulating a magnitude 7.3 quake in Chiayi County was sent at 9:21am to mobile phones across the nation, urging people to “drop, cover and hold on.”
At 10am, people in coastal areas received a tsunami test alert on their phones, followed 10 minutes later by another message informing them that the drill had ended.
The Central Weather Administration used the Public Warning Cell Broadcast Service to send the test alerts to the public via mobile phones.
The Ministry of the Interior has said that this year’s “disaster relief mobilization drills” from Wednesday to yesterday would involve more than 1,000 participants from various ministries and local governments.
Additional reporting by CNA
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