Nepal helps Bhutan strengthen quake preparedness with support from PM Modi-backed coalition
During the full-scale exercise, Bhutanese authorities created a mass-casualty scenario involving the country’s largest referral hospital and two primary healthcare centres, Nepali Times reported.
A full-scale earthquake simulation in Bhutan's capital Thimphu has identified gaps in emergency equipment and resource mobilisation, testing how authorities, hospitals, and responders would coordinate after a major quake. Nepal's earthquake experts provided technical support for the June 23 exercise, designed by the National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET) and facilitated by the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
The simulation recreated a magnitude 7.5 earthquake scenario, involving mass casualties, damaged buildings, disrupted roads, and power supply, and tested decision-making, communication, coordination, and resource mobilisation. The findings, published by a Nepali weekly, highlighted the need for immediate resource mobilisation to set up field hospitals and improve multi-agency coordination.
Bhutan and Nepal, both in the seismically active Himalayan region, are vulnerable to major earthquakes. The exercise followed a tabletop simulation and aimed to test contingency arrangements in a field setting. Bhutan's Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay emphasized the similarity in their circumstances and the need to learn from Nepal's experience in earthquake preparedness.
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