Preparedness is the only defense that Filipinos have against earthquakes that occur 20 times a day on the average in the country since it lies on a zone of active faults and trenches, scientists and seismologists noted Saturday.

Dr. Renato Solidum, director of the Philippine Institute on Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), said this is the reason why they will be holding another simultaneous earthquake drill in San Juan Elementary School in San Juan City next Wednesday.

"The youth is one of the most vulnerable sectors of the society as they have not experienced strong earthquakes yet or have not enough knowledge of what to do before, during, and after earthquakes," Solidum told the Manila Bulletin.

"Earthquake drills in public and private schools will enable our youth to be prepared. We also hope that what they learn in school will be shared eventually with their families and be applied at home," he added.

PHIVOLCS, in coordination with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), will simulate an earthquake scenario using a siren, which will be rung at exactly 9 a.m. not only in San Juan Elementary School but in all public schools nationwide on February 17.

The event will practice students, teachers and staff to “duck, cover and hold” positions, which PHIVOLCS advised to do during earthquakes, as well as how to evacuate to designated open space after the “earthquake.”

Dr. Graciano Yumul, the supervising undersecretary from the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) in charge of warning agencies like PHIVOLCS, earlier said that installing early warning instruments would be useless and would not benefit the public.

He explained that no instrument can detect temblors early enough that would be able to buy enough time for Filipinos to prepare for such disaster, explaining that the country's proximity to earthquake generators would only buy 10 to 15 minutes of warning time before an earthquake actually occurs.

Solidum and Yumul issued the statements as different sectors fear possibilities that another high-magnitude earthquake similar to that which devastated Haiti last month could hit the country.

In 2005, authorities started to conduct smaller scale drills that were adapted by local government units nationwide the following year. It was only last year when leading agencies began conducting the exercise quarterly in all private and public schools nationwide.

The Philippines is highly susceptible to earthquakes because it sits on more than 15 active faults, and four large chunks of moving trenches like the Sulu, Negros, Manila, and Philippine Trenches as well as East Luzon Trough that collide against each other.

In July 1990, the Luzon earthquake measuring magnitude 7 on the Richter Magnitude Scale killed thousands of people, and destroyed large buildings in Baguio, Agoo, and Dagupan City, making it the most destructive quake to occur in the country in recent memory.