Days After 5.8 Quake in Assam, Arunachal Hosts Large-Scale Earthquake Response Exercise

An earthquake of immense power could hit at any time without warning, leaving only destruction, terror, and loss behind. With the North-East occupying one of the most tectonically active regions of the globe, readiness cannot be a nicety but must be a necessity. In that vein, a coordinated earthquake response exercise conducted in Along and Kamba in Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday provided critical lessons—both for Arunachal but also for neighbouring Assam.

The massive mock drill that mimicked a 7.8 earthquake at five locations involved the Indian Army, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Police, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and civil administration working shoulder to shoulder. The exercise simulated the speed with which various agencies would respond—rescuing survivors, establishing medical camps, and re-establishing order amidst the mayhem of a disaster.

For Assam, a state that has experienced the trauma of earthquakes—most indelibly the devastating Assam earthquake of 1950, which killed thousands—it is a timely reminder that this exercise is. Experts have constantly issued the warning that the Northeast is overdue for a big quake. Such mock drills are rehearsal battles, and they demonstrate to communities what will happen, who will be responding, and how systems can be made more resilient to minimize casualties.

What impressed at the drill was the seamless coordination among military and civilian organizations, the speed of rescue teams, and the deployment of healthcare units. Such coordination is usually the weakest link in actual disasters, when confusion can be deadly. The Incident Response System, which was put to test under the exercise, demonstrated how a well-formatted chain of command can ward off chaos in a crisis.

Disaster preparedness is as much a function of people as institutions. To the villagers of Arunachal who witnessed the mock drill, it was not just an exercise—it was assurance. To Assam, where densely populated towns, vulnerable riverine landscapes, and aged infrastructure are still highly exposed, it is an imperative to spend more on public awareness and local-level capacity building. After all, disaster management is not the exclusive work of the Army or SDRF; it starts with families, schools, and communities having an idea of what to do when the ground shakes.

The Along-Kamba drill reinforced a greater truth: that during natural catastrophes, unity is the best armour. By bolstering readiness in Arunachal today, lessons radiate across the Northeast—particularly Assam, where reminders of previous quakes teach us not to rest on our laurels.

Also Read: 5.8-Magnitude Earthquake Jolts Assam; Tremors Felt in Guwahati