A 6.1 magnitude earthquake on the Costa del Sol: This is what will happen during Monday's emergency response exercise

On Monday 22 October, the Andalusian regional government will carry out a major emergency drill in Malaga and Cadiz province to test how the operational services deal with major disasters. Two practical exercises will take place simultaneously in the municipalities of San Roque (Cadiz) and Marbella (Malaga), as part of the regional RespuestA23 exercise.

In the province of Malaga, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 and a depth of five kilometres will be simulated, which will affect several towns on the Costa del Sol, with the town of Marbella being one of the worst affected.

In this case, the reverse 112 emergency SMS text message notification system will be tested in the Finca de la Trinidad area, so that local residents and people who are in this area will receive an alert message on their mobile phones that this is a test and, therefore, they should not be alarmed or take any action. The aim is for people to begin to familiarise themselves with this warning system that facilitates their safety and self-protection.

All messages related to the exercise will be sent in English and Spanish and shall be headed by the text: "DRILL: PLEASE DO NOT ALARM, THE RESPONSE_23 DRILL IS BEING PERFORMED, NO ACTION IS REQUIRED".

During the exercise, the CEIP Mario Vargas Llosa school in Marbella will be evacuated, involving the participation of around thirty 'extras' from the IES Pérez de Guzmán secondary school in Ronda.

The exercise in Malaga province of Malaga will also simulate an environmental pollution episode in Estepona, which will test the response capacity for the protection of the coastline.

The exercise in San Roque will be carried out in four locations on the Guadarranque Industrial Estate and the surrounding area. It will begin with the warning of a fire in a Cepsa refinery tank that will force the preventive evacuation of the population of Carteia-Guadarranque and the confinement of the residents of Puente Mayorga.

The wind will cause the flames to spread and cause a forest fire that will affect the archaeological site of Carteia, declared an Asset of Cultural Interest. The fictitious fire in the refinery tank will also cause the rupture of the cargo hose to a ship and the spillage of fuel oil into the Bay of Algeciras.

In these areas, too, a warning message will be sent to mobile phones and, as in the case of Marbella, the general population should do nothing.

In both exercises, an Advanced Command Post (PMA) will be installed from where the entire emergency response will be monitored and the work of the different operatives involved will be coordinated. Both training exercises will involve the activation of the Andalusian Territorial Emergency Plan (PTEAnd) at Level 2 in the region.

In Malaga, the Emergency Plan for Seismic Risk in Andalucía will also be activated at provincial level (Level 2) and the Marbella Municipal Emergency Plan, as well as the Emergency Plan for the risk of coastal pollution in Andalucía (PECLA) for the simulated incident in Estepona.

In Cadiz, the Municipal Emergency Plans of San Roque (which will also activate the Municipal Emergency Plan for Forest Fires in the municipality), La Línea, Algeciras and Los Barrios will be activated, the latter two municipalities will activate their local action plans for the Risk of Coastal Pollution.

The exercise, which is expected to be attended by the regional minister of the Presidency, Antonio Sanz, will involve by Emergency Andalucía operatives (112, Civil Protection and Emergency Group of Andalucía), Plan Infoca, 061 Health Emergency Centre, National Police, Spain's Military Emergency Unit (UME) and Guardia Civil (traffic, Seprona and Pegaso units).

Also taking part will be personnel from Malaga's provincial authority and Marbella Town Hall, as well as provincial fire brigade consortium of the province of Cadiz, together with the Local Police of Marbella, Algeciras, Los Barrios, La Línea and San Roque, Environmental Agents from the Junta de Andalucía, experts from the Centre for the Recovery of Wildlife Species (CREA) and the Centre for the Recovery of Marine Species, the Environmental Quality Unit, the Directorate-General of Traffic (DGT), the Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras and the Harbour Master's Office.

The operation will also be joined by personnel from REMER, local Civil Protection volunteer groups (from arbella, Coín, Carratraca, Istán, Monda, Teba, Ronda, Cañete la Real, Campillos, Benalmádena, and Fuengirola in Malaga and Los Barrios, Algeciras, La Línea and San Roque, in Cadiz), as well as specialists from the Red Cross and the Psychological Intervention Group for Emergencies and Disasters (GIPED).

The deployment will also include personnel from the Atlantic Coastal Demarcation, Port Police, Environmental Prosecutor's Office, Defence Subdelegation, Institute of Legal Medicine, territorial delegations of the Junta de Sostenibilidad, Medio Ambiente y Economía Azul; Fomento, Articulación del Territorio y Vivienda; de Desarrollo Educativo y Formación Profesional; de Salud y Consumo and that of Agricultura, Pesca, Agua y Desarrollo Rural, as well as the regional hospitals of La Línea and Punta de Europa in Algeciras.

In Cadiz, the residents' associations of Guadarranque and Puente Mayorga will also participate, as well as the companies in the chemical sector, which will activate their respective emergency plans during the drill.