To prepare itself for earthquakes, the UP Diliman (UPD) College of Mass Communication (CMC) held an unannounced earthquake drill simultaneously held at Plaridel Hall, Media Center, and Cine Adarna (UPFI Film Center) last Feb. 15.

According to the CMC, “the unannounced earthquake drill was done to familiarize students, faculty, and staff with the CMC’s earthquake procedures. The drill also tested the protocols of the college’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Committee (DRRMC), refining the lessons from previous earthquake drills and more importantly, from the experience gained from an actual earthquake last year.”

The earthquake drill had CMC Dean Fernando dlC Paragas as incident commander and CMC Associate Dean Wowie Lomibao as lead drill coordinator.

The simulated earthquake lasted for one minute. The time enabled the “selected drill coordinators to assess the compliance of the students, faculty, and staff,” the CMC stated.

Lomibao underscored the earthquake drill’s importance during the debriefing session. The college’s DRRMC also held a demonstration of what to do during an earthquake and “emphasized the signals used by the college, the evacuation areas, and accounting and communication procedures,” the CMC stated.—With a report from Alex Tamayo, CMC