Vietnam holds first tsunami drill

Laaska News Oct. 18,2011

Vietnam has held its first-ever tsunami evacuation drills in the central coastal city of Danang. The drills were carried out Tuesday for a scenario that saw the country hit by a huge tsunami like the one that devastated Japan earlier this year.

A UN report issued after Japan’s March 11th disaster says that an 8-point-6 magnitude earthquake in waters off the Philippines could trigger a 3- to 10-meter tall tsunami along the coastal regions of Vietnam.

About 5,000 people that live near the coast took part in the drills. Responding to warning sirens from loudspeakers and instructions from police officers, the participants fled on foot to buildings on higher ground or nearby mountains.

Mock search-and-rescue drills were also held in which military personnel and firefighters rescued people from boats and vehicles swept away by the tsunami. The participants also practiced giving emergency first aid.

One resident who took part in the exercise says the tsunami damage in Japan that he saw on TV and in newspapers was frightening. He says he will make the best use of what he’s learned from the drill if a disaster hits.

NHK.

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Laaska News.
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