Taipei, Sept. 21 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) pledged to provide the “necessary resources” to elevate Taiwan’s resilience to natural disasters during a visit to observe a school’s disaster prevention drill in Hualien County on Wednesday.
Tsai made the promise, without providing details, while visiting the National Hualien Special School, where faculty members and students undertook a simulated response to a major earthquake, as part of the National Disaster Prevention Day drills.
Taiwan’s National Disaster Prevention Day was first observed in Sept. 21, 2000 in commemoration of a devastating earthquake on Sept. 21, 1999 that claimed more than 2,400 lives.
Other drills that took place in Hualien on Wednesday morning included simulated rescue and relief operations held at a stadium, which Tsai also visited.
Tsai said that recent earthquakes and aftershocks had once again reminded people in Taiwan of the need to always stay vigilant and be prepared for emergency situations.
In addition to earthquakes, Taiwanese people should also brace for other challenges, Tsai said, adding that extreme climates have increased the risk of a compound disaster.
Tsai said as the central and local governments continued to roll out policies to improve disaster response and management on school campuses, she hoped that schoolteachers and students would work together to contribute to disaster prevention efforts.
Earlier in the same day, Tsai also visited the Army’s Huadong Defense Command in Hualien City to express her gratitude for the deployment of soldiers to assist local governments in rescue operations after a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck southeastern Taiwan on Sunday.
More than 160 discernible earthquakes were recorded in Taitung County from last Sunday to Tuesday morning, most of them centered in Chishang Township, causing damage to buildings and infrastructure.
The most powerful one occurred on Sunday at 2:44 p.m., registering 6.8 on the Richter scale, hours after a magnitude 6.4 quake, centered in Taitung’s Guanshan Township, rocked Taiwan on Saturday night, according to the Central Weather Bureau.
As of Tuesday morning, the quakes claimed one life, and resulted in 168 people injured, according to the Central Emergency Operation Center.
Tsai urged the military to make preparations to ensure swift mobilization for emergency situations, adding that disaster prevention and rescue efforts should be treated as equally important as combat operations.
