With 256,103 Baja Californians participating, the National Earthquake Drill took place in the state, with record turnout in Baja California regarding public prevention exercises, according to the head of the Secretariat of the Interior of Baja California (SGG), Catalino Zavala Márquez.

The state official pointed out that the efforts of interinstitutional coordination and with society were instructed by Baja Californian Governor, Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda, according to the public policies by the Government of Mexico led by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

On this drill that is carried out every September 19, everyone is reminded of the earthquakes that occurred in central Mexico in 1985 and 2017, as well as the one that occurred in Mexicali on April 4, 2010. During these moments, extraordinary solidarity among people took place, which brought out the best of our society, the official said.

This learning process strengthens the actions by the State System of Civil Protection of Baja California, prioritizing prevention and calculation of risks through strategies that contemplate the participation of all population sectors, he said.

The secretary recalled that Baja California is located in a seismic zone. In 2022, it recorded 1,225 earthquakes, with 44 of them with a magnitude above 3, which is why it is important to be prepared. The secretary mentioned that prevention culture has grown among people, since in the 2020 drill, 180,000 people participated and in the 2021 drill, a total of 78,300 people participated in Baja California.

It should be noted that the State Coordination of Civil Protection (CEPC), in coordination with other agencies and government organizations, deals with important issues such as landslides in Tijuana and incidents such as fires and meteorological phenomena such as Cyclone Kay.

Something else revealed by Zavala Márquez is that Governor Marina del Pilar will promote a legislative reform so that companies create, with their external verifiers, protection plans that are carried out even faster, such as the ones that are used in Mexico City.

“On behalf of the governor, we are calling on all public and private institutions to update their civil prevention protocols and the incident plans for their employees,” he said.

For his part, the head of the Secretariat of Education, Gerardo Solís Benavides, mentioned that all education facilities were instructed to participate which is why 2,800 schools took part in this drill, which reached 1 million students in both morning and afternoon shifts.

The Senior Official of Baja California, Rocío López Gorosave, pointed out that the central government in Mexicali had the participation of 1,256 people with the support of 53 brigade members. Statewide, the government evacuated 5,018 people. Meanwhile Mexicali Mayor, Norma Bustamante Martínez, stated that in the municipal building 742 people were evacuated and also thanked institutions and rescue groups that helped with this drill.

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