The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Phuket office (DDPM-Phuket) first announced the emergency exercise on May 27. (See story here.)
Speaking at the DDPM-Phuket headquarters in Phuket Town on Wednesday (June 17), V/Gov Somkiet said that the three-day event will include the mass evacuation of residents from the Tambon Srisoonthorn area in Thalang District in response to a simulated major earthquake.
The exercise aims to educate locals and first responders of what to do as their initial response, the knowledge and use of evacuation routes, and the management and use the temporary shelters, he said.
The first day of the exercise, Wednesday (June 24), will be spent briefing locals and emergency services from 9am to 5pm on what to do during the simulation, which will be held on Thursday (June 25).
During the drill, residents will be evacuated from their homes and businesses and temporary shelters will be set up for people injured or made homeless by the assumed earthquake, which will strike with a presumed strength of 5.7 magnitude.
On Friday (June 26), participants and emergency-response teams will review the drill’s effectiveness, discuss any obstacles and come up with any suggestions on how to improve on providing an effective response to such as calamity.
This year the drill takes has more than usual significance, following a series of earthquakes that rattled the island last month. (See story here.)