Dramatic scenes in Gozo during the earthquake drill.

More than 100 people were yesterday evacuated from Gozo to a makeshift camp in Għajn Tuffieħa after a major earthquake struck 120 kilometres southwest of Malta on Thursday.

This was the scenario behind a simulation exercise by the Civil Protection Department to test its preparedness in case of natural disasters.

A command centre was set up on the Gozo helipad and 300 personnel from the CPD, the police and the armed forces as well as several NGOs were recruited for the 72-hour operation.

The disused Qortin quarry, off Xagħra, stood in for a collapsed residential area, with a number of survivors trapped in the rubble, while people were evacuated from the Xewkija village square to the emergency shelter in Malta.

This is the largest scale simulation ever carried out by the authorities.

It is the result of a €400,000 EU-funded project aimed at developing an integrated network between Malta and Sicily to forecast, prevent and mitigate the risks of seismological, hydrogeological and volcanic disasters.

A group of 60 rescuers from the Protezione Civile Regione Sicilia also participated in the exercise, which ends today.

At the end of this month, CPD personnel will take part in a similar simulation in Lampedusa.