Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), local Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), and SM Supermalls join the shake drill activity at SM City Tarlac in line to the Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) last August 8, 2019.
The earthquake drill is quarterly conducted to heighten the level of preparedness of employees when the said calamity strikes. It is well participated by a total number of 1,700 including employees, affiliates, tenants, customers and agencies.
Before the said activity, all drill signages and paraphernalia were in place and all marshals were in their command posts. At 12 pm, the mall PA system started announcing a reminder to tenants and employees regarding the earthquake drill and announcement were repeated every 30 minutes.
At exactly 2 pm, ringing of fire alarms was played in the PA system signaling the start of the drill. All employees, tenants, affiliates and even customers performed “duck, cover and hold” position under payment counters, sturdy tables/seats and the like.
After the 45-second ring, evacuation was performed. Marshalls led the evacuation of the premises and the assembly at the evacuation areas. Clearing operations were also conducted to ensure nobody was left in the building.
The main objective of the said drill is to highlight and continuously practice the capability of all SM Supermalls to execute procedures that will address the safety needs of people should a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, occur within its grounds. It also offers an opportunity to institutionalize the activity to further raise earthquake safety consciousness among the public and hence develop a disaster-resiliency community.