He urged the continued practice of drills and the adoption of preventive measures at all levels of society.
SANTO DOMINGO. – With the Fifth National Great Earthquake Evacuation Drill 2025, state authorities seek to increase public awareness
The National Office for Seismic Evaluation and Vulnerability of Infrastructure and Buildings ( Onesvie) highlighted yesterday that among the expected results is the improvement of institutional organization, strengthening coordination with response agencies, and documenting lessons learned to refine emergency plans.
The national drill held yesterday at 10:00 am nationwide simulated a magnitude 7.2 earthquake on the Richter scale , lasting 15 seconds and with a depth of 24 kilometers, whose epicenter was located between the provinces of Santiago and La Vega.
More than 2.8 million people participated in this event, which allowed for the evaluation of the effectiveness of evacuation plans, the institutional response capacity, and the level of citizen preparedness for a possible seismic event, according to a press release.
Onesvie's CEO, Leonardo Reyes Madera , emphasized that these exercises are essential to consolidate a national culture of prevention and strengthen the resilience of communities to natural hazards.
The official emphasized that the institution's technical team actively participated in the supervision, support, and structural evaluation work, with the purpose of ensuring the quality of the evacuation processes and providing technical information for the continuous improvement of national response protocols.
He also explained that this national exercise also promotes the review and improvement of emergency plans , the awareness and training of institutional and community personnel, as well as the identification of strengths and weaknesses in evacuation and response processes.
Reyes Madera added that these actions contribute to compliance with national and international regulations on risk management, reaffirming the country's commitment to safety and resilience in the face of natural disasters.
The entity also emphasized that these exercises help strengthen citizen preparedness and inter-institutional coordination in the face of a possible seismic event, considering the country's geographical location, which exposes it to significant risks .
In that regard, he urged the continued practice of drills and the adoption of preventive measures at all levels of society.
The event was held under the coordination of the Emergency Operations Center (COE), with the support of the Dominican Civil Defense.
