120000 people conduct evacuation drills in Okinawa

120000 people conduct evacuation drills in Okinawa

In the afternoon of November 5, in the Hamagawa district of Chatan, nursery school children evacuated to the roof of the building designated as a tsunami evacuation shelter.


November 06, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

On November 5, learning from the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Okinawa Prefectural Government and all municipalities conducted evacuation drills in many parts of Okinawa for the first time this year, on the basis that a huge earthquake and tsunami had occurred.

About 120000 people from 800 organizations participated in these drills. The emergency alert system that sent e-mails simultaneously to mobile phones across the prefecture was tested. Residents practiced going to higher floors in taller buildings and to higher ground through U.S. military bases in order to practice fleeing from a tsunami.

The Chatan Municipal Office has designated 33 facilities as the tsunami evacuation buildings on the west coast of the town in the case of possible disasters.

An evacuation drill for children was also held in Aiiku Nursery School. One hundred seventy children from 11 classes, including children aged to five years old, evacuated to the roof of the eight-story building next to the nursery school with their parents and staff members.

Chatan Mayor Masaharu Noguni and many municipal office members also took part in the drill.

(English translation by T&CT, Mark Ealey)

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