More than 1,000 soldiers and some 20 U.S. and Central American organizations gathered Monday for the first day of exercises in a large-scale simulation of an earthquake in Puerto Rico to test methods of coordination in case a natural disaster strikes.
A total of 1,030 soldiers from different countries in the region, along with officials of more than 20 local and federal agencies, launched the exercise, dubbed Operation Boriquen Response, at the installations of San Juan's Roberto Clemente Coliseum.
According to the organizers, Monday's exercise aimed to test the region's coordination capabilities, using the case of a child who goes missing in the stadium urgently equipped as a shelter for earthquake victims.
Once the child was found "unconscious," the personnel taking part in the simulated emergency supposedly found a chemical that contaminated everyone in the shelter.
They also performed tasks in the replica of a quake that had partially demolished an area while calling for the aid of local police, firefighters, emergency management services, the Board of Environmental Quality and medical emergency staff.
"It's not the same to say we're ready as it is to test whether we're really prepared by means of a simulation," the executive director of the state emergency management office, Miguel Rios, said about the exercises that will continue until next March 21.
The simulation coincides with the 3rd United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction this week in the northeastern Japanese city of Sendai.
Close to 1.2 million people were killed, 2.9 billion were affected and material damages amounted to some $1.7 trillion in natural disasters between 2000 and 2012, the U.N. says. EFE
U.S. and Central American organizations simulate earthquake in Puerto Rico
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