Large-Scale Emergency Management Exercise to Take Place in Northern Cyprus

The Civil Defense Service will conduct an exercise on disaster management and response on Mackenzie Street in the Iskele district on October 23, 2025, at 10:00. The exercise will involve the Iskele District Crisis Centers.

The event will include personnel from the Civil Defense Service, agencies and institutions within the TRNC emergency management system, the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority of Turkey (AFAD), the Turkish Gendarmerie General Command, the Turkish-Cypriot Peacekeeping Forces Command, the Security Forces Command, as well as local and international search and rescue associations: the Disaster Search and Rescue Association (DAAK), the Cyprus Search and Rescue Association (KARK), the Turkish-Cypriot Search and Rescue Association (KTAK), the Civil Emergency Teams Association (SAT), and students from local university search and rescue clubs belonging to the International University Search and Rescue Council (IUSARC). The Famagusta Medical Center brigades and the Kolan Hospital teams will also participate.

The scenario involves an earthquake of magnitude 7.7 with an epicenter in the Famagusta Bay area, at a seabed depth of approximately 4.5 kilometers. Planned activities include evacuation and debris clearance, forest and agricultural fire suppression, rescue from smoke-filled rooms, assistance in road accidents, and numerous maritime and aerial rescue operations, including spill containment and helicopter evacuations.