The earthquake exercise in 2012. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Next Thursday, at five minutes past six in the evening, a major earthquake will strike 120 kilometres south-west of Malta, hitting large parts of the island’s critical infrastructure.

The damage will be most intense in Gozo, where several buildings will collapse and more than 100 people will be evacuated to a makeshift camp at Għajn Tuffieħa.

There’s no cause for alarm just yet, however – the scenario described is merely the background to an earthquake simulation exercise being carried out by the Civil Protection Department (CPD) next week to test its preparedness in case of natural disasters.

Addressing journalists yesterday, CPD director John Rizzo said the exercise would be the largest-scale simulation ever carried out by the authorities. It will run for 72 hours from the evening of September 3 and will involve some 300 personnel from the CPD, police and armed forces, as well as several NGOs.

Some 60 rescuers from the Sicilian Dipartimentio della Protezione Civile will also be involved, simulating a scenario where Maltese rescue services are overwhelmed by requests and are required to call in help from abroad.

Mr Rizzo said the simulation was the result of a €400,000 EU-funded project entitled SIMIT, aimed at developing an integrated network between Malta and Sicily to forecast, prevent and mitigate the risks of seismological, hydro-geological and volcanic disasters.

Destructive earthquakes in Malta are rare but not unknown. According to historical records, an earthquake in January 1693 demolished several buildings, including sections of the Mdina cathedral. The last tremor to cause damage in Malta was in 1923.

More than 100 ‘homeless civilians’ will be evacuated from the Xewkija village square to Malta

The simulation will be centred around the disused Qortin quarry on the outskirts of Nadur, which will stand in for a collapsed residential area, with a number of survivors trapped in the rubble.

Meanwhile, more than 100 ‘homeless civilians’ will be evacuated from the Xewkija village square to Malta, where they will be housed for 48 hours in emergency sheltering.

A number of training exercises will also be carried out in Malta at the same time to test the emergency services’ limits.

The exercises will include night-time cliff searches, a simulated partial collapse at Pender Place, a tank fire at the Gasco site, and a partial collapse of the National Flood Relief Project Tunnels in Lija.

Mr Rizzo stressed that the exercise should not cause alarm or undue disruption to the public. While invited to attend the simulation, members of the public have been warned to obey all police instructions.