At the tsunami evacuation drill (Source: Kyodo) Hanoi (VNA) – Hundreds of Indonesian junior high school students on November 5 participated in a tsunami evacuation drill on the resort island of Bali, aimed at raising public awareness to reducedisaster risk.
It was supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and fully funded by the Japanesegovernment.
The drill, involving over 300students and teachers, took place at Taman Sastra Junior High School in Bali'sBadung Regency.
The scenario for the exercise was amagnitude 8.5 earthquake emanating from 20 kilometres under the seabed.
The students hid under theirclassroom desks as soon as the quake was announced. They then were instructed bythe teachers on how togather and run to higher ground.
The staging was part of the UN agency's #PreparetoWin campaign,which has seen more than 285 schools and 107 students in 18 Asia and Pacificcountries take part in tsunami drills since 2017.
Addressingthe event, the U.N.agency's Indonesia deputy resident representative, Sophie Kemkhadze, said the2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and last year's earthquake-triggered disaster in Central Sulawesi highlighted the need to put intoplace education and exercise programmes to prepare the public for futuredisaster events.
Kemkhadze stressed that preparednessis the key to dealing with natural disasters that can occur at any moment.
As tsunamis are unpredictable and cansometimes strike within minutes, being prepared means knowing the warningsigns, having clear emergency plans, safe evacuation routes and safe zones, sheadded.
The December 2004 tsunami claimed more than230,000 lives, mostly in the northernmost Indonesian province of Aceh, whilethe September 2018 quake-tsunami in Central Sulawesi killed more than 4,000people./.
VNA
