Hulhudhoo Now

Panic spread among the hundreds of people along Bahaaudheen Magu Saturday, as the tranquil morning was shattered by a loud boom, followed by a magnitude-8.7 earthquake near Nicobar Island at 9:40am.

The panic grew as the tsunami siren wailed from HulhuMeedhoo, warning that the quake could potentially cause a tsunami. People wasted no time in leaving their children in the school and ran in a chaotic crowd to the nearest evacuation facilities setup in Hulhudhoo Football Ground.

There was, of course, no tsunami that day: The excitement was part of a tsunami drill program jointly conducted by Maldives Meteorological Service (MMS) and Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (adpc).

Hundreds of people namely students, parents, police and MNDF personnel were involved in the drill, many of whom could not stop from crying in real panic. "I'm still traumatized by the 2004 tsunami," one resident, Aisha, said as she fled. "I just don't want it to happen again."

The minister of state for National Disaster Management Center (NDMC) Mr. Abdulla Shaid said the drill was important for all those living in tsunami-prone regions. "Through the drill we learn what we should do when disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis hit," he said.

Mr.S H M Fakhruddin, a technical specialist of adpc, said many lessons could be learned from the drill, including identifying weaknesses in the disaster handling system."The drill has shown us many things we have to fix in the future, but they are all still within the tolerable limits," Fakhuruddin said. He praised the MMS administration's initiative in conducting the drill, which, he said, was a "breakthrough".

This is the first drill of its sort in the Maldives and MMS in association with adpc will conduct further disaster-handling simulations in various islands across the country. According to MMS they are planning to conduct similar simulation drill in Fuvahmulah next year.
Fakhuruddin said the evaluation of the tsunami drill conducted in HulhuMeedhoo on Saturday would be used as a reference for tsunami handling for other islands and countries whose territory lies on the Indian Ocean. He added the event would also be held in memory of the 2004 tsunami.