Mexico City to bring major earthquake drill to Xochimilco

Mexico City will take its major emergency drill to Xochimilco this year, staging a simulated disaster at the borough’s sports center alongside another scenario at Plaza de la República, in front of the Monument to the Revolution.

The exercises will form part of the Second National Drill on Sept. 19. City emergency services will use the sites to demonstrate search, rescue, victim location, stabilization and extraction techniques.

Myriam Urzúa, head of the Secretariat for Comprehensive Risk Management and Civil Protection, said authorities were making an extra effort to bring residents into the exercise because it will take place on a Saturday. Officials especially want people living in housing complexes to participate while families are likely to be at home.

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We are making a greater effort to invite all residents, especially those who live in housing complexes, to participate actively in this drill, taking advantage of the fact that families will practically all be in their homes.

The drill will test the response capacity of emergency teams and continue evaluating Mexico City’s earthquake emergency plan. Authorities will also measure how quickly the seismic alert spreads and how long residents take to shelter or evacuate.

The exercise will simulate a magnitude 7.7 earthquake with an epicenter 15 kilometers south-southwest of Tehuacán, Puebla, at a depth of 67 kilometers. Registration remains open through the national drill website, and SGIRPC said 11,000 buildings had enrolled by the previous week.

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Of course, it allows us to continue measuring the alert dissemination times, as well as the sheltering and evacuation times on that day.