->921 National Disaster Preparedness Day Exercise LIU Shyh-fang: Don’t panic when receiving alert text messages. Everyone should come together for disaster prevention.

September 21st (09/21) every year marks the National Disaster Preparedness Day. Today (20240901) the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) jointly held the "2024 National Disaster Preparedness Day Exercise – Kick-off Press Conference”. Premier CHO Jung-tai was present in person, along with the Central Weather Administration (CWA) of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), the Agency of Rural Development & Soil and Water Conservation (ARDSWC) of the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), and the Water Resources Agency (WRA) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), etc., jointly promoting the disaster prevention work.

Pointed out by Premier CHO, disaster prevention education should be rooted from an early age, who appreciated the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) for jointly promoting disaster prevention activities today. In view of the frequent hit of typhoons on Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) has also continuously enhanced the accuracy of its disaster forecasts and provided timely disaster information to disaster relief units and populaces through the successive introduction of technology. Next, Premier CHO pointed out the three directions for disaster prevention, namely "active disaster relief", "comprehensive disaster knowledge", and "resiliency in disaster prevention" for all, where the non-governmental units, shopping places, etc., should be incorporated for a better mechanism for logistics and resource dispatch. Through today’s press conference, it was hoped that our fellow citizens could learn more about the activities surrounding the National Disaster Preparedness Day as our government constantly promoted the earthquake evacuation knowledge from the national level, thus enhancing the awareness and ability of disaster prevention for all.

As per Minister LIU Shyh-fang, this year’s National Disaster Preparedness Day Exercise will be themed on a simulated earthquake of magnitude 7.3 striking Zhuqi Township, Chiayi County at 09:21 on 2024/09/20, causing related disasters in western Taiwan along with other related disasters. More than 1,000 disaster relief personnel from various parts of the country are mobilized and experts and search and rescue teams from 12 countries will participate in the "Large-Scale Earthquake Fire and Disaster Relief Mobilization Exercise" in Chiayi County and Penghu County, together to verify our disaster relief capacity through the practical exercise. At the same time, at 09:21 on 2024/09/20, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) will also simultaneously send a "national alert" message to the entire public across the country, in line with the simulated earthquake scenario. Upon receiving the earthquake alert sound and alert text message on their mobile phones, the populaces are asked to act out the 3 life-saving steps "Drop – Cover - Hold on" in line with the simulated earthquake scenario,

Indicated by Minister LIU, with the 0403 Hualien Earthquake, Typhoon GAEMI, and the recent typhoon disasters in Japan, we learned that when disasters struck, praying was not the only thing to do; rather, the experience told us that the ratio of self-rescue vs. mutual rescue vs. public rescue was 7:2:1. Therefore, from the level of community, school, etc., we must continuously enhance our disaster prevention knowledge. Accordingly, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) has actively promoted the trainings of "Taiwan Community Emergency Response Team (T-CERT)” and Disaster Relief Volunteers (DRVs). Thus far, 29,402 DRVs have been trained, including more than 2,000 school faculty members, aiming to enhance the response ability of the community upon facing the disaster, and play a supportive role in line with the government units’ disaster relief efforts, thus ultimately making the national disaster prevention network tied more closely and strengthening Taiwan’s resilience to large-scale earthquakes.

As per Minister LIU, the Japanese government recently proposed a simulated earthquake of magnitude 9+ occurring in the trough of the South China Sea, where neighboring countries’ assistance may be required for the simulated large-scale complex disasters. Therefore, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) has also actively been promoting Taiwan’s preparedness for international humanitarian assistance (HA) and disaster relief (DR) by special search and rescue teams. Overall, let’s face disasters together, as we are on the same Taiwan boat in the sea. On the premise of being fully prepared, only can we reduce casualties and mitigate harms from the disaster.

2024 National Disaster Preparedness Day Exercise – Kick-off Press Conference – Exercise

2024 National Disaster Preparedness Day Exercise – Kick-off Press Conference 2

2024 National Disaster Preparedness Day Exercise – Kick-off Press Conference 1

Premier CHO Jung-tai of the Executive Yuan and Minister LIU Shyh-fang of the Interior (MOI)

Minister LIU Shyh-fang of the Interior (MOI)

Premier CHO Jung-tai of the Executive Yuan