Two tremors were felt in Lima Saturday noon, just hours before a planned nationwide earthquake and tsunami drill took place at 8pm.
The first tremor was at 12:02 m, with a magnitude of 5º Richter, with its epicenter offshore some 30kms north of Lima at Ancon. The second tremor was 3.8º at 1:48pm, offshore from Chilca about 65km south of Lima, according to the national Geophysical Institute, IGP.
The nationwide drill was coordinated by the National Defense Institute, INDECI, to test the coordinated efforts of private and state-run institutions in the event of a major earthquake (8º Richter) and a subsequent tsunami.The timing of the drill, starting at 8pm, was to consider people in their homes or recreational activities rather than at their schools and workplaces, where drills tend to be standard practice.
INDECI has included a series of info-packs on its website and distributed flyers and posters in high risk and densely populated areas. The information includes a “survival combo” list of items homes should have stored for emergencies, including an emergency backpack if people need to evacuate their home.
In Lima, Mayor Villaran and the head of INDECI, Luis Palomino, monitored the drill in the Plaza de Armas where some 1500 people participated. The city activities were centered on several key areas in Callao and Lima, but most of the population continued its Saturday evening lifestyle as usual.
