In response to the recent seismic activity in eastern Cuba, the Red Cross in Santiago de Cuba conducted a training session on Tuesday, teaching children essential survival skills for a major earthquake. This initiative aims to raise awareness and foster a culture of disaster preparedness among the young population.
Aris Arias Batalla, Operations and Relief Manager for the Red Cross in Santiago de Cuba, shared a video on Facebook showcasing a practical drill held at the Seminternado Hermanos Marañón, located in the Vista Hermosa district. During this exercise, children learned necessary actions to take during a significant seismic event.
Arias highlighted that the primary goal of the drill was to “engage with students and teachers, providing guidance to safeguard the health and physical integrity of our students and the community at large.”
In a further statement, the Red Cross representative mentioned that the practical exercise served to "evaluate the response and management of a perceptible high-magnitude earthquake." Arias stressed the importance of maintaining protection during the quake and, once the tremors subside, executing an immediate, safe, and orderly evacuation to open areas free from potential hazards.
Additionally, a collective discussion reinforced the knowledge about what actions to take before, during, and after such sudden natural events. Emphasizing the importance of preserving historical knowledge is crucial to minimizing the impact of these occurrences.
While these precautionary measures might cause concern among the children's families, it is vital for the young ones to be informed, especially since they reside in a seismically active city and the school year has resumed. Santiago de Cuba has a history of implementing such safety practices.
Despite these preparations, experts from the National Center for Seismological Research have pointed out that, although 1,943 aftershocks have been recorded from Sunday until 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, predicting a major earthquake in the near or medium term is not feasible.
Dr. Enrique Diego Arango Arias, Head of the National Seismological Service at CENAIS, debunked a false alarm circulating among the public about an imminent large-scale earthquake. Dr. Arango criticized the spread of this misinformation as irresponsible.
“Today, irresponsible individuals have been claiming that a strong earthquake will occur in this city within hours, causing panic in schools, workplaces, buildings, and other public spaces,” Arango stated, underscoring the need to disregard baseless rumors that only incite unnecessary fear among the populace.
The seismologist reiterated that such predictions are entirely unfounded, as “earthquakes cannot be forecasted in the short or medium term.”