QC Memorial Circle, City Hall, hospitals among staging areas for Feb. 15 earthquake drill

Earthquake readiness exercises will be conducted Thursday, February 15 in several Quezon City areas for the 1st quarter Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED).

In a statement, the QC Public Affairs and Information Services Office (PAISO) identified four staging areas for the activity: Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City Hall, Veterans Hospital, and the Quezon City General Hospital.

The launch will be at the Quezon Memorial Circle, which will serve as the official evacuation site for nearby barangays and Quezon City Hall employees in the event of a massive earthquake.

Once the ceremonial signal is activated at 2 p.m. at Liwasang Aurora, all offices in the 15-storey City Hall building and government offices along Elliptical Road will be evacuated, City Information Officer Ares P. Gutierrez told GMA News Online.

Camp management, fire suppression, clearing operations, and relief operations for a "total destruction" scenario will be held at the Circle during the drill.

The Quezon City General Hospital is tasked to set up field offices outside its building, execute search exercises and test its surge capacity, for which a "hospital surge" will be simulated.

The Veterans Hospital, which is designated as the staging area and support for the north quadrant, will be setting up a command post assigned to communicate with its twin region, Region I.

"The venues will test the actual disaster plan under Oplan Metro Yakal," Gutierrez said.

The office has yet to announce whether an air medical evacuation will be stimulated.

According to the statement, the exercise aims to assess the city’s capabilities in traffic management, fire suppression, clearing operations, relief operations management of the dead and missing, peace and order, and "rapid disaster and needs" analysis.

The nationwide drill is held quarterly in preparation for a multi-hazard scenario to hit the capital region at any time, referred to as the "Big One."

For the first quarter of 2018, QC Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (QCDRRMO) head Karl Michael Marasigan said, the city will lead the "unprecedented massive investment in public safety."

“I-execute natin yung contingency plan ng Quezon City in coordination and our inter-operability with the regional quadrant, yung North Quadrant pero since malaki ang QC, ginawang stand alone QC,” Marasigan said.

Edna Conda of the Office of the Civil Defense added that the QC  government will be implementing a "new disaster assessment scheme" during the drill.

Disaster control groups other than the QCDRRMO were also instructed to participate in the NSED.

“We will get all stakeholders involved especially the private sector, hospitals, schools, malls, business establishments and the barangay. Everyone should be involved as much as we can. We want everybody to be aware,” Marasigan said.

Quezon City placed first runner-up in the last Gawad Kalasag Nationwide Awards, which recognizes local Disaster Risk Reduction offices nationwide noteworthy performances and practices. — Margaret Claire Layug/BM, GMA News