Türkiye held a nationwide disaster and earthquake drill on Saturday to mark the 23rd anniversary of a strong earthquake that killed more than 17,000 people in the country's western Black Sea region, Trend reports citing Daily News.
Coordinated by the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, the exercise, the first of its kind, began at 6:57 p.m. local time (1557 GMT) and lasted a few minutes.
As the drill started, citizens received emergency warnings on their phone screens. Meanwhile, radio stations and television channels broadcast the "drop-cover-hold on" instruction designed to help people keep safe during an earthquake.
"First run of this integrated notification system of radio, television, and phone messages was to see our technological sufficiency," said Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu after the drill.
"These kinds of drills and education are as important to us as establishing disaster-resistant cities," Soylu added.