Lima goes into disaster mode as government run earthquake response drill

Record ID: 877475

  • Title: Lima goes into disaster mode as government run earthquake response drill
  • Date: 31st May 2017
  • Summary: MEDICAL WORKERS ATTENDING TO VICTIM NATIONAL CIVIL DEFENSE INSTITUTE (INDECI) WORKERS OUTSIDE TENT (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) HEAD OF THE NATIONAL CIVIL DEFENSE INSTITUTE (INDECI), LUIS ALFONSO SUAZO, SAYING: "We are simulating an earthquake and afterwards a tsunami in the whole coastal zone, regions in the country, in mountain regions we have an earthquake on top of mud slides. We have done this on the 31st to commemorate 1970, the Ancash earthquake, in which 70,000 people died, communications were cut off and there was a problem and really no capacity to respond to it. That is why we constantly have to carry out exercises in relation to these things." EMERGENCY WORKERS AND PUBLIC WATCHING FIRE FIREFIGHTERS PUTTING OUT A FIRE IN THE ROAD
  • Embargoed: 14th June 2017 19:23
  • Keywords: earthquake tsunami natural disasters simulation drill Peru Pedro Pablo Kuczynski
  • Location: LIMA, PERU
  • City: LIMA, PERU
  • Country: Peru
  • Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Earthquakes/Volcanoes/Tsunami
  • Reuters ID: LVA0036J67K8Z
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Peruvian President, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, led a nationwide drill to prepare the South American country for natural disasters on Wednesday (May 31), the anniversary of a deadly earthquake which killed tens of thousands.
    The governmental palace was evacuated as part of a wider exercise coordinated by the National Civil Defense Institute (Indeci), whose director, Luis Alfonso Suazo, said the drill was carried out to commemorate the 1970 Ancash earthquake which killed 70,000.
    Suazo said that at the time the country lacked the capacity to respond to the disaster, highlighting the importance of carrying out suck drills.
    Kuczynski said such drills would be repeated throughout his time in office and encouraged the population to take part and prepare themselves against a real problem the country faces. He further told reporters that in the case of a natural disaster, some of the worst hit areas would be centred in the outskirts of the capital Lima, due to rocks falling from the mountains alongside precarious constructions.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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