Earthquake Drills Reach Millions of People in Mexico
Earthquake drills are regularly practiced in Mexico, mainly because the country sits on one of the most seismically active regions on the entire planet. In fact, the country has already experienced a large earthquake disaster, which makes these practice sessions even more valuable. Specifically, in 1985 an 8.1-magnitude quake caused over 10,000 fatalities and leveled hundreds of buildings.
Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic put a hold on conducting these emergency drills, but the good news is that the country is getting back on track in this regard.
Details of Mexico’s Earthquake Drills
In June 2021, millions of residents took part in a series of earthquake drills for the first time since the pandemic hit. Of course, given that almost a quarter million people in Mexico died from the virus, the typical pandemic restrictions were mandated, such as mask-wearing and social distancing. But this did not slow down the learning.
The June earthquake drills simulated an 8.1-magnitude earthquake, and an eye-popping 6 million residents participated by following evacuation guidelines as they were communicated across the country’s warning system, which tracks the activity of seismic monitors and uses 12,000 loudspeakers to alert residents.
In addition to the triggering of the seismic monitors and loudspeaker notifications, helicopters flew overhead and firefighters were deployed during the simulation. This provided residents with a realistic simulation within which to practice, and helped identify process gaps such as 200 loudspeakers which were found to be inoperable.
From an emergency preparedness perspective, I love the idea of country-wide earthquake drills. Mexico has 9 million residents, and sits on five tectonic plates, three of which are considered “major.” Therefore, it is of utmost importance that residents, first responders, utility companies and any other stakeholder in the area understand exactly what to do in these situations. And earthquake drills seem like the perfect mechanism to maximize this understanding and minimize future earthquake fatalities.
