(Bloomberg) — Esmeralda Ronquillo sleeps lightly at night, fearing she won't be quick enough to protect her daughter when an earthquake that experts say could kill tens of thousands hits the Philippine capital.
"I'm terrified just thinking about it," Ronquillo, 47, said inside her home in a two-story residential building in Manila's Santa Cruz district that has fallen into disrepair. "Nobody knows when the quake will hit, so I just pray that God will keep us safe."
Filipinos like Ronquillo are ill-prepared for the next "Big One," something the government wants to change. On Thursday morning, sirens wailed, smoke puffed from buildings, a car burned and medics performed rescue operations as metropolitan Manila simulated an earthquake scenario.
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