Public safety organizations, civil protection agencies and public transport officials in Mexico City took part in a major exercise earlier this year to test their response to an earthquake disaster.

For the simulated earthquake, measuring 8·1 on the Richter scale, Sepura radios were installed in Mexico City Police’s command and control centre – the official crisis room for disaster recovery co-ordination – run by the capital’s head of government and the chief of police. The aim was to test response times and evaluate the adequacy and speed of deployment of resources. 

The co-ordinating authority, the Secretaría de Seguridad Pública del Distrito Federal (SSP-DF), decided to carry out this large scale drill following the powerful earthquake which struck Chile in February. Mexico City has experienced many similar earthquakes, the latest being the destructive 1985 quake.

Simulating disaster

SSP-DF deployed multiple command positions using Sepura’s SRG mobile gateway radios in the command centre in Plaza Tlaxcoaque, in the historic heart of Mexico City. During the drill, response teams were dispatched to a variety of simulated emergencies: a collapsed bridge, a metro train crash and even the destruction of the Angel, the city’s famous monument to independence. The overall operation lasted over two hours and was declared a complete success by all the public safety organizations and agencies involved.

“Preparing for and dealing with major disaster recovery operations in a megalopolis like Mexico City with over 20 million inhabitants requires co-ordination at the highest level”, commented engineer Edgar González Cruz, of SSP-DF. “There are no words to convey the vital importance of communications between the control centre and all parties involved in events of such a scale.

“We need the peace of mind that the communication equipment we use is fit for purpose, reliable and will ultimately enable us to save as many lives as possible in the devastating circumstances of a major natural disaster like a high magnitude earthquake.”