Bhutan quake drill exposes emergency gaps as Thimphu tests 7.5 scenario
Bhutan staged a full-scale earthquake simulation in Thimphu with technical support from Nepal's experts. The drill exposed equipment and resource gaps that could weaken the response to a major quake.
A full-scale earthquake simulation in Bhutan's capital has exposed gaps in emergency equipment and resource mobilisation while testing how authorities, hospitals and responders would work together after a major quake. Nepal's earthquake experts provided technical support for the exercise.
The drill recreated a scenario similar to a magnitude 7.5 earthquake in Thimphu, with mass casualties, damaged buildings, disrupted roads and a power outage. It tested decision-making, communication, rescue operations and the movement of resources, as part of wider efforts to strengthen Bhutan's earthquake preparedness and its Thimphu Earthquake Contingency Plan.
The National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET), with support from the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and Bhutanese authorities, designed and facilitated the full-scale exercise on June 23. Its findings were published by a Nepali weekly on Saturday. The exercise followed a tabletop simulation and was aimed at testing contingency arrangements in a field setting, according to the state-run Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) and the Nepali Times weekly. CDRI was conceptualised by India and launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York in 2019 to promote resilient infrastructure systems against climate and disaster risks. It has more than 50 member countries, including India, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Germany, Italy, the US, the UK, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands, and works with bodies such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and the European Union.
Bhutan and Nepal are in the seismically active Himalayan region and are vulnerable to major earthquakes. Bhutan was hit by a magnitude 5.5 earthquake on June 7, while a magnitude 5 quake struck Rukum East in western Nepal on July 19. Bhutan's deadliest recorded earthquake was an estimated magnitude 8.5 quake in 1714. In Nepal, more than 9,000 people were killed after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in April 2015, followed by powerful aftershocks, including a magnitude 7.3 quake the next month.
During the full-scale exercise, Bhutanese authorities created a mass-casualty scenario involving the country's largest referral hospital and two primary healthcare centres, Nepali Times reported. The scenario assumed that some emergency medical staff could not reach the hospital because of family emergencies or blocked roads, while the hospitals themselves had no power. BBS reported that response operations were carried out at nine locations in Thimphu, including a simulated hotel collapse, severely damaged residential buildings and a fire in Olakha, a prominent urban and commercial area in the capital. At the hospital, patients and staff were evacuated to designated safe zones, temporary medical tents were set up and ambulances transported simulated casualties from affected areas.
The exercise also highlighted gaps in the equipment and resources that could be mobilised quickly to set up field hospitals if the main hospital was compromised. "Currently, through this simulation exercise, we realised that we don't have that kind of resource to be mobilised immediately and set up field hospitals," BBS quoted Phub Tshering, incident commander of the earthquake simulation exercise at the hospital, as saying. The drill also tested multi-agency coordination, communication, decision-making and resource mobilisation. CDRI Director General Amit Prothi said simulations were important because, unlike in a real disaster, participants knew in advance where resources would be needed and could identify weaknesses in their systems.
The simulation team also assessed critical infrastructure, including 11 bridges, a hospital, an electricity terminal, the telecom network and a food supply warehouse, Nepali Times reported. The four-hour exercise involved around 500 people in different roles and was attended by Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, the country's overall disaster response commander. The outcome was analysed and NSET prepared a series of recommendations to strengthen Bhutan's earthquake preparedness. One recommendation was to establish at least one six-member earthquake first-responder rescue squad for every ward serving 15,000 to 20,000 people. Surya Narayan Shrestha of NSET told Nepali Times that Prime Minister Tobgay said Bhutan needed to learn from Nepal because of the similarity in their circumstances.
The exercise was part of a broader effort to strengthen Bhutan's preparedness for a major earthquake, especially in urban centres such as Thimphu, by testing plans on the ground, identifying shortages and drawing up recommendations for a stronger response.
With PTI Inputs
A full-scale earthquake simulation in Bhutan's capital has exposed gaps in emergency equipment and resource mobilisation while testing how authorities, hospitals and responders would work together after a major quake. Nepal's earthquake experts provided technical support for the exercise.
The drill recreated a scenario similar to a magnitude 7.5 earthquake in Thimphu, with mass casualties, damaged buildings, disrupted roads and a power outage. It tested decision-making, communication, rescue operations and the movement of resources, as part of wider efforts to strengthen Bhutan's earthquake preparedness and its Thimphu Earthquake Contingency Plan.
The National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET), with support from the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and Bhutanese authorities, designed and facilitated the full-scale exercise on June 23. Its findings were published by a Nepali weekly on Saturday. The exercise followed a tabletop simulation and was aimed at testing contingency arrangements in a field setting, according to the state-run Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) and the Nepali Times weekly. CDRI was conceptualised by India and launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York in 2019 to promote resilient infrastructure systems against climate and disaster risks. It has more than 50 member countries, including India, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Germany, Italy, the US, the UK, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands, and works with bodies such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and the European Union.
Bhutan and Nepal are in the seismically active Himalayan region and are vulnerable to major earthquakes. Bhutan was hit by a magnitude 5.5 earthquake on June 7, while a magnitude 5 quake struck Rukum East in western Nepal on July 19. Bhutan's deadliest recorded earthquake was an estimated magnitude 8.5 quake in 1714. In Nepal, more than 9,000 people were killed after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in April 2015, followed by powerful aftershocks, including a magnitude 7.3 quake the next month.
During the full-scale exercise, Bhutanese authorities created a mass-casualty scenario involving the country's largest referral hospital and two primary healthcare centres, Nepali Times reported. The scenario assumed that some emergency medical staff could not reach the hospital because of family emergencies or blocked roads, while the hospitals themselves had no power. BBS reported that response operations were carried out at nine locations in Thimphu, including a simulated hotel collapse, severely damaged residential buildings and a fire in Olakha, a prominent urban and commercial area in the capital. At the hospital, patients and staff were evacuated to designated safe zones, temporary medical tents were set up and ambulances transported simulated casualties from affected areas.
The exercise also highlighted gaps in the equipment and resources that could be mobilised quickly to set up field hospitals if the main hospital was compromised. "Currently, through this simulation exercise, we realised that we don't have that kind of resource to be mobilised immediately and set up field hospitals," BBS quoted Phub Tshering, incident commander of the earthquake simulation exercise at the hospital, as saying. The drill also tested multi-agency coordination, communication, decision-making and resource mobilisation. CDRI Director General Amit Prothi said simulations were important because, unlike in a real disaster, participants knew in advance where resources would be needed and could identify weaknesses in their systems.
The simulation team also assessed critical infrastructure, including 11 bridges, a hospital, an electricity terminal, the telecom network and a food supply warehouse, Nepali Times reported. The four-hour exercise involved around 500 people in different roles and was attended by Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, the country's overall disaster response commander. The outcome was analysed and NSET prepared a series of recommendations to strengthen Bhutan's earthquake preparedness. One recommendation was to establish at least one six-member earthquake first-responder rescue squad for every ward serving 15,000 to 20,000 people. Surya Narayan Shrestha of NSET told Nepali Times that Prime Minister Tobgay said Bhutan needed to learn from Nepal because of the similarity in their circumstances.
The exercise was part of a broader effort to strengthen Bhutan's preparedness for a major earthquake, especially in urban centres such as Thimphu, by testing plans on the ground, identifying shortages and drawing up recommendations for a stronger response.
With PTI Inputs
A full-scale earthquake simulation in Bhutan's capital has exposed gaps in emergency equipment and resource mobilisation while testing how authorities, hospitals and responders would work together after a major quake. Nepal's earthquake experts provided technical support for the exercise.
The drill recreated a scenario similar to a magnitude 7.5 earthquake in Thimphu, with mass casualties, damaged buildings, disrupted roads and a power outage. It tested decision-making, communication, rescue operations and the movement of resources, as part of wider efforts to strengthen Bhutan's earthquake preparedness and its Thimphu Earthquake Contingency Plan.
The National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET), with support from the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and Bhutanese authorities, designed and facilitated the full-scale exercise on June 23. Its findings were published by a Nepali weekly on Saturday. The exercise followed a tabletop simulation and was aimed at testing contingency arrangements in a field setting, according to the state-run Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) and the Nepali Times weekly. CDRI was conceptualised by India and launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York in 2019 to promote resilient infrastructure systems against climate and disaster risks. It has more than 50 member countries, including India, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Germany, Italy, the US, the UK, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands, and works with bodies such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and the European Union.
Bhutan and Nepal are in the seismically active Himalayan region and are vulnerable to major earthquakes. Bhutan was hit by a magnitude 5.5 earthquake on June 7, while a magnitude 5 quake struck Rukum East in western Nepal on July 19. Bhutan's deadliest recorded earthquake was an estimated magnitude 8.5 quake in 1714. In Nepal, more than 9,000 people were killed after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in April 2015, followed by powerful aftershocks, including a magnitude 7.3 quake the next month.
During the full-scale exercise, Bhutanese authorities created a mass-casualty scenario involving the country's largest referral hospital and two primary healthcare centres, Nepali Times reported. The scenario assumed that some emergency medical staff could not reach the hospital because of family emergencies or blocked roads, while the hospitals themselves had no power. BBS reported that response operations were carried out at nine locations in Thimphu, including a simulated hotel collapse, severely damaged residential buildings and a fire in Olakha, a prominent urban and commercial area in the capital. At the hospital, patients and staff were evacuated to designated safe zones, temporary medical tents were set up and ambulances transported simulated casualties from affected areas.
The exercise also highlighted gaps in the equipment and resources that could be mobilised quickly to set up field hospitals if the main hospital was compromised. "Currently, through this simulation exercise, we realised that we don't have that kind of resource to be mobilised immediately and set up field hospitals," BBS quoted Phub Tshering, incident commander of the earthquake simulation exercise at the hospital, as saying. The drill also tested multi-agency coordination, communication, decision-making and resource mobilisation. CDRI Director General Amit Prothi said simulations were important because, unlike in a real disaster, participants knew in advance where resources would be needed and could identify weaknesses in their systems.
The simulation team also assessed critical infrastructure, including 11 bridges, a hospital, an electricity terminal, the telecom network and a food supply warehouse, Nepali Times reported. The four-hour exercise involved around 500 people in different roles and was attended by Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, the country's overall disaster response commander. The outcome was analysed and NSET prepared a series of recommendations to strengthen Bhutan's earthquake preparedness. One recommendation was to establish at least one six-member earthquake first-responder rescue squad for every ward serving 15,000 to 20,000 people. Surya Narayan Shrestha of NSET told Nepali Times that Prime Minister Tobgay said Bhutan needed to learn from Nepal because of the similarity in their circumstances.
The exercise was part of a broader effort to strengthen Bhutan's preparedness for a major earthquake, especially in urban centres such as Thimphu, by testing plans on the ground, identifying shortages and drawing up recommendations for a stronger response.
With PTI Inputs
