The Costa Rican National Emergency Commission (CNE, in Spanish) and the Municipality of San José are organizing an earthquake drill today, Tuesday, September 12, as part of preventive measures in this country with high seismic activity.

More than 60,000 people are expected to participate, which will include employees and customers/clients at 43 public and private entities located in 132 buildings in downtown San José, Costa Rica.

The drill focuses on the downtown San José districts of Carmen, Merced, Hospital and Catedral, and will also include parts of Mata Redonda which includes much of the area around La Sabana Park.

The event will also allow emergency responders and decision-makers to evaluate the emergency response capacities and preparedness in the country, said the CNE in a statement.

The emergency commission hopes to evaluate the organizational response capacity of the Municipal Emergency Committee and network of emergency committees at public institutions as they respond to this simulation of a high intensity earthquake near the city of San José.

Some 220 emergency response officials will be involved in monitoring and evaluating the drill in which they will also test their search and rescue equipment and procedures.

The drill will take place around 10 a.m., and services in the offices involved are expected to resume around 11:30 a.m. according to local media reports.