Patna, Jan. 25: Awareness about dealing with natural calamities is half the battle won. Following it up, the district administration today reached Bankipore Girls’ High School to arm the students with valuable tips on dealing with earthquakes.

District magistrate Sanjay Kumar Singh and his team shared safety measures to be taken during an earthquake with around 150 girls of classes IX, XI and XII as part of the Disaster Safety Week. Videos made by National Disaster Management Authority on earthquake preparedness were also screened for the students.

A mock drill by civil defence personnel was also conducted. The students took part in the mock drill after being trained by the civil defence personnel yesterday on how to rescue people after an earthquake.

The district magistrate told The Telegraph: “Children and the elderly are most vulnerable to earthquakes. So we have decided to organise such programmes in other schools to acquaint the students with earthquake preparedness. Our main aim is to make the children aware and motivate them to inform their family and community. We are using the children as our messengers.”

The students were all ears for Singh as he briefed them on safety measures to be taken during an earthquake, like taking shelter under a desk or going to a corner of the room.

Soni Kumari, a Class XI student, said: “It was a great learning experience for us. We were taught special techniques in rescuing injured people. We were told that people with different injuries should not be handled in the same way.”