TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Yilan County mobilized thousands of residents Wednesday (Sept. 17) in a comprehensive disaster drill simulating an 8.5-magnitude earthquake in the Ryukyu Trench. The large-scale exercise, conducted as part of Taiwan's National Disaster Prevention Day, tested emergency response capabilities across multiple scenarios including building evacuations and tsunami warnings. Officials coordinated the drill to evaluate preparedness levels and identify areas for improvement in disaster response protocols.
Students rapidly evacuated classrooms following national earthquake alerts as teachers guided them to designated safety areas on school grounds. Homeroom teachers conducted headcounts to verify all students reached safety zones successfully during the evacuation procedures. The drill expanded to include tsunami scenarios, with students and nearby villagers taking shelter on building third floors as emergency protocols directed.
Yilan County and New Taipei City coordinated extensive earthquake and tsunami rescue operations throughout Wednesday's comprehensive emergency exercises. New Taipei City's Xinzhuang Sports Park (新北市新莊運動公園) will continue hosting secondary drill phases Thursday (Sept. 18) and Friday (Sept. 19). The Central Weather Administration (CWA, 中央氣象署), Taiwan's national weather service, announced Friday's drills will incorporate Cell Broadcast Service technology to distribute real-time disaster prevention alerts to mobile devices. ◼