DUSHANBE, November 6, Asia-Plus  -- Disaster response teams of Tajikistan’s Red Crescent Society (RCS) have completed an exercise on testing the backup disaster response plan, Asia-Plus has learned from Madina Sayfiddinova, an information officer with Tajik RCS.    

According to her, 10 disaster response teams from 10 RCS disaster response coordination centers took part in a three-day exercise that was held in the Shirkent jamoat of the Tusunzoda district, some 60 kilometers to the west of the Tajik capital.  

The main purpose of the exercise was to rehearse coordination and interaction in managing the emergency situation, timely providing an efficient and concerted aid to the emergency victims, etc.   

Tajikistan is prone to frequent natural disasters because of its terrain and climate, and its capital city Dushanbe with the population of more than 1 million people is the tremor-prone area.

According to experts, there is possibility that a devastating earthquake may strike Dushanbe.  The disaster can leave 55,000 dead and some 220,000 injured, the information officer said.   

The exercise scenario was based on a devastating earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale striking Dushanbe in winter, at nighttime.  As a result, the centralized infrastructure of the city is destroyed completely and serious damage is caused to the country’s economy. 

The teams participating in the exercise practiced all operational procedures on preparedness for and response to disaster.   

Davlatbek Alinazarov, the head of the RCS emergency management department, said that all the ten teams had acted efficiently and yielded good results.   

The exercise was staged by RCS under support of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).