Azores Civil Protection carries out TOURO24 drill on Terceira to test response to seismovolcanic scenario

June 3, 2024

The Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service (SRPCBA) will carry out the TOURO24 drill between June 6 and 8 on the island of Terceira to test the response capacity of the various civil protection agents in the face of a seismovolcanic scenario.

The drill will simulate an increase in seismic activity in the western part of the island, specifically in the Santa Bárbara volcano, which will cause volcanic activity and high-magnitude earthquakes. Based on this scenario, the various civil protection agents will have to respond to the events that will be triggered, testing their capacity for response and coordination. 

The largest civil protection drill organised by SRPCBA, TOURO24 will run for 72 hours, using the LIVEX (Live Exercise) format, i.e. the movement of resources on the ground. It is expected to mobilise more than 400 participants with direct and indirect intervention, including operatives, entities and extras.

The Regional Secretary for the Environment and Climate Action, who is responsible for Civil Protection, will follow the operations of TOURO24 on the ground. According to Alonso Miguel, the drill is "a way of improving the response of civil protection agents and ensuring that the Region is better prepared to face serious accidents or catastrophes."

During the drill, requests for help will be made as if they were real situations, with events such as obstructed roads, slope movements, communications failures, search and rescue in collapsed structures, setting up concentration and support zones for the population and preventive evacuations, among other incidents that could be part of a situation of this kind. They will be staged in different locations on the island.

About 30 organisations are taking part in TOURO24, including civil protection agents (fire brigades from all the islands, security forces, armed forces, the National Maritime Authority, health professionals and the Portuguese Red Cross), local councils, government departments and organisations with a duty to cooperate, technical and scientific research institutions, utility and communications companies, and media outlets.

This year's event will also include a group of judges made up of members of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority, the Lisbon Sapper Fire Brigade, the Regional Civil Protection Service of Madeira, the National Institute of Medical Emergency and the command of the Flores and Corvo fire brigades.