The Taiwanese government issued earthquake and tsunami alerts on Friday, September 20, cut off television and radio programming for a couple of minutesin order to improve the population’s preparedness for natural disasters that frequently affect the island.
According to the criteria of
These tests, which took place within the framework of the National Disaster Prevention Daywhich takes place on Saturday, September 21, began at 9:21 a.m. (01:21 GMT) with the sending of an earthquake alert to mobile phone users.
“Duck, cover and hold on,” read the text sent by the Central Meteorological Agency (CWA), an agency that is also responsible for monitoring seismic activity on the island.
At the railway station in Keelung City, located in northeastern Taiwan, Passersby stopped for a few seconds to look at their mobile phone screens and they continued on their way with apparent tranquility.
A few minutes later, at 10:00 a.m. to be exact, The sirens of the port of Keelung and other coastal towns sounded to simulate the arrival of a tsunamiwhich did not cause alarm among the population, who continued with their daily activities completely normally.
Finally, television and radio stations briefly interrupted their programming to make way for the public broadcasting signal, which conveyed various messages on the prevention of natural disasters.
Why did Taiwan begin to commemorate the National Disaster Prevention Day?
Taiwan began commemorating National Disaster Prevention Day on September 21, 2000, just one year after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake hits Nantou County (center), causing the death of more than 2,400 people.
Over time, this day has become a kind of disaster prevention “week”, with a multitude of activities scheduled for several days across the island to strengthen social awareness in the face of this type of event.
Some civil organizations also take advantage of this event to Organize drills on how to act in the event of an attack by Chinaincluding the Kuma Academy, which on Saturday will carry out a series of exercises in first aid and assistance to the population in the event of war.
EFE
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