Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA), Home Department has informed that a Nagaland Emergency Preparedness Exercise (NEPEx) consisting of a mega mock exercise would be conducted all over the state on August 30, 2017.
In a communiqué, the NSDMA has requested the public not to panic but to cooperate with the authorities for smooth conduct of the mock exercise. It stated that such drills/exercise have proven to be most useful as they increased awareness as well as equipped the citizens to respond appropriately during times of actual disasters.
Dimapur: Deputy Commissioner and DDMA chairman Dimapur district, Kesonyu Yhome in an order appointed five individuals from various backgrounds as observers for the NEPEx drill to be carried out in Dimapur district on August 30. The observers include— CO 32 AR, DGC Principal, CO CTI (HG&CD), Editor Nagaland Post and DCCI president.
The district administration has identified at least 10 areas of operation for the NEPEx. These include– Badminton stadium as staging area and incident command post (ICP), Assam Rifle helipad, DDSC stadium as relief camp, school- Don Bosco Higher Secondary School, hospital (effected)- Nikos hospital, shopping complex—Hong Kong market and Vishal Mart, emergency operation hospital- Civil hospital, residential building/location—Marwari Patti, offices- DC office, CMO, DAO (Agri), DMC, PHED (supply colony), Geology & Mining, NST (central workshop) and Taxes Commissioner’s office.
Earthquake rumors debunked
Rumor mongers have taken to social media by circulating messages that “a huge earthquake with a magnitude around 8.5 is predicted to happen in Nagaland on August 29 or 30.” The message further goes on to spread panic by saying that “people have already started buliding relief camps in Dimapur.”
Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority has dismissed such rumours, being circulated on various social media platforms and appeaeld to the public not to pay heed to such rumours but stay vigilant
What many do not know is that there is no scientifically plausible way of predicting the occurrence of a particular earthquake. The USGS can and does make statements about earthquake rates, describing the places most likely to produce earthquakes in the long term.
It is important to note that prediction, as people expect it, requires predicting the magnitude, timing, and location of future earthquake, which is not currently possible. The USGS and other science organizations are working to better understand earthquakes in the hope of eventually being able to predict the size, location and time that an earthquake will happen. The USGS does produce aftershock forecasts that give the probability and expected number of aftershocks in the region following large earthquakes.
As Charles Richter, inventor of the Richter Scale, famously said– “Only fools, liars and charlatans predict earthquakes.”