Conducting Mega Mock Exercise on Earthquake in Nagaland

Mega Mock Exercise

Dimapur: The Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA) on Thursday conducted the Nagaland Emergency Preparedness Exercise (NEPEX) across the state.

The exercise was conducted on the scene of an earthquake measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale.

The exercise is being conducted to test the state’s ability to deal with and cope with any major calamity.
A simulated 8.7 magnitude earthquake scenario was created in Kohima where buildings collapsed and fires broke out at five locations – Grace Higher Secondary School Bayau, Dr. N. Keir Govt. Higher Secondary School Sekhazo, Mount Olive College Doklin, Mau Market BOC, and a Residential House No. A236 at Officers Hill.
Nagaland State Disaster Response Force, medical, fire and emergency services, police personnel and Kohima Village Youth Organization were involved in the search and rescue operation.

Nagaland police personnel were also deployed to control the crowd at some of the affected places.
Incident Commander and Kohima Additional Deputy Commissioner Rhosietho Nguori said the exercise was conducted to test the district’s ability to deal with and respond to any major disaster.

He thanked all line departments and stakeholders for their cooperation and active participation in the exercise.

Various section chiefs of Incident Response System also shared their experiences and challenges during the exercise.
In Dampur, a staging area was set up at the Nagaland Stadium while Pantalones, Forest Department residential area, Government High School Langrejan and GHS Sarbora were the crash sites during the mock exercise.

Sirens were sounded at 9 am as the District Emergency Operation Center received a report of a simulated earthquake measuring 8.7 on the Richter Scale in Dimapur.

The officer in charge briefed the command staff, after which the incident commander arrived at the staging area with the rest of the incident response team to assess the situation and mobilize resources.
During the mock drill, there were three deaths, nine serious injuries and eight minor injuries, all of whom were evacuated and treated at the hospital. The bodies were kept in the mortuary.

The exercise was also conducted in the district headquarters of Newland, Wokha, Kefir, Mon, Lungling, Perin, Teonsang, Tasminyu, Phek, Chomukidema, Shamatur, Noklik and Zonhibuto.