Taitung: President Lai Ching-te on Friday inspected a large-scale earthquake disaster response drill in eastern Taiwan, attended by representatives from 18 countries and more than 150 international search-and-rescue and medical personnel.
According to Focus Taiwan, President Lai emphasized the significance of conducting joint drills during peacetime to establish common procedures and coordination. This approach aims to ensure that countries can conduct more effective rescue operations when disasters occur.
The three-day drill, conducted in Taitung County from Wednesday to Friday as part of Taiwan's National Disaster Prevention Day, simulated a magnitude 7.3 earthquake in the southern section of the East Longitudinal Valley. The event involved personnel from 11 countries.
Attendees included American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene, Canadian Trade Office in Taipei Executive Director Marie-Louise Hannan, and Swedish Representative to Taiwan Carl Michael Gr¤ns. President Lai was joined by National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu, Defense Minister Wellington Koo, and Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang during his visit to a forward disaster response center, an emergency shelter exercise, and a simulated disaster rescue operation.
The drill adopted a "semi-notified, unscripted" format, simulating damage to critical infrastructure and disruptions to external assistance. It incorporated lessons from Typhoon Danas and the Mataian Creek barrier lake disaster last year, focusing on backup communications, evacuation, and shelter arrangements.
Lai noted the government's recent expansion of international disaster-response cooperation, including collaborations between Taiwan and Germany on disaster prevention, humanitarian assistance, and joint rescue operations. He also highlighted that over 177,000 individuals have been trained as disaster preparedness personnel, up from over 100,000 at the end of last year.