According to IIEES Public Relations Office, the 20th National Earthquake and Safety Drill, with the theme "Safe School – Resilient Society," will be held on Wednesday, November 28, 2018, with earthquake and safety sirens broadcasted simultaneously across all schools in the country. This drill has been conducted annually since its initiation around 20 years ago by the International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology (IIEES), in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, the Ministry of the Interior, the Iranian Red Crescent Society, and the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, and is aimed at raising awareness and preparedness, especially among students, regarding the risks and consequences of earthquakes and how to prepare for them.
In this program, which begins a few weeks before the drill, special attention is given to ensuring school safety against earthquakes, retrofitting non-structural elements, teaching proper sheltering methods, safe evacuation from classrooms during an earthquake, and providing necessary first-aid training to students and school staff.
It is worth noting that, based on feedback received from previous drills, the Steering Committee decided to expand the drill program in 2016 to include surrounding neighborhoods, encouraging community involvement. In this expanded program, earthquake-safe schools serve as local crisis management centers, playing a role in managing local and neighborhood-level crisis situations. Thus, the approach in recent years has been to implement the “Safe School – Resilient Society” program. In this context, the scientific secretary of the drill and the head of the IIEES Disaster Risk Management Research Center provided further details about this year's drill. Dr. Kambod Amini Hosseini categorized the drill process into two main parts: the school and the neighborhood. He mentioned that all schools will carry out their regular earthquake safety drills on November 28, as in previous years, and that both students and teachers will be trained in earthquake risks and proper behavior during and after an earthquake. The most important actions to be taken, according to the drill guidelines, include ensuring the safety and resilience of schools, which should be reviewed and managed by the School Renovation and Equipment Organization to minimize the risk of structural damage from earthquakes. He further highlighted the positive actions taken by the Ministry of Education in this regard, stating that, according to statistics published by the Organization for Development, Renovation and Equipping Schools of I.R. Iran, about 70% of public schools in the country have been retrofitted to withstand earthquakes. However, the situation in private schools is far from satisfactory, with most of the buildings in these schools being vulnerable and dangerous in the event of an earthquake, requiring special attention from officials.
Dr. Amini Hosseini also identified the second step of the drill as retrofitting non-structural elements, such as windows, boards, cabinets, shelves, and other similar items, to minimize the risks of falling objects or shattered glass during an earthquake and prevent harm to students. Additionally, training on proper sheltering locations and evacuation methods from classrooms will be conducted by the Iranian Red Crescent Society and the Student Organization before the drill.
Regarding how to involve the community in this year's drill, Dr. Amini Hosseini explained that the main approach of the second phase of the program is neighborhood-based. Under the agreements of the High-Level Public Earthquake Preparedness Committee, earthquake-safe schools are designated as local crisis management hubs in urban neighborhoods, both before and after an earthquake. In this setup, local residents and neighbors collaborate with school officials to form a neighborhood safety committee at the school. They then work together, to identify and address hazardous areas within the neighborhood, with the help of the committee members or relevant authorities. A neighborhood safety map will also be created by the committee in collaboration with participating agencies. Additionally, some local residents will receive first-aid training (e.g., fire-fighting, rescue, providing medical assistance, setting up tents) and participate in exercises conducted under the supervision of responsible authorities. Emergency supplies, such as tents, first-aid kits, fire extinguishers, emergency food items, etc., will be stored in selected schools to be used during potential earthquake events or scheduled drills. Since local residents are the first to assist each other after an earthquake, this training and the provision of necessary supplies in schools significantly improve rescue operations and can help save more lives during the difficult aftermath of an earthquake.
Regarding the events on the day of the drill, Dr. Amini Hosseini added that on November 28, when the earthquake siren sounds, students will evacuate their classrooms and gather in designated areas in the schoolyard. Simultaneously, neighborhood residents will leave their homes and head to the school as the local crisis management center, where they will participate in various activities related to rescue, emergency shelter, food aid, attending to the injured, and other pre-arranged and practiced tasks.
This year’s symbolic earthquake and safety drill will be held outside of Tehran for the first time, in the city of Karaj, Alborz province, at the Fatemeh Pezeshki Hosseinabad School. Dr. Amini Hosseini explained that the decision to hold this symbolic national drill outside Tehran was made due to multiple requests from other provinces for such drills. The steering committee decided to hold the national symbolic drill outside Tehran this year to evaluate the feedback and explore the possibility of holding the drill in other cities in future years. Karaj was chosen because it is one of the most earthquake-vulnerable cities in the country and is considered one of the most underserved cities in terms of educational space.
It is important to note that this year, the student drill will be held in all schools across the country, and neighborhood-based drills will take place in at least five schools in every city. After assessing the results and addressing any issues, the program is expected to gradually expand to all earthquake-safe schools nationwide by the target year of 2025.
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