It was a magnitude 9.2 undersea earthquake happening off Northern Sumatra on the 5th of November - but fortunately, it was simulated. The Disaster Management Centre and the Radio Society of Sri Lanka responded as if it were happening for real, sending traffic designed to coordinate evacuations and respond to health emergencies and other critical situations.

A statement from the radio society's management council, posted on their Facebook page, said that the hams' field operations on VHF from Colombo, Galle and Kalutara provided uninterrupted data relay across the island. The scenario called for disaster response from a variety of agencies where such coordination was crucial. The field operators had strong support from home-based listening stations.

Frequencies were also monitored by the Amateur Radio Society of India and member societies of IARU Region 3.

The council statement said: [quote] "This exercise not only demonstrated the vital role and effectiveness of Amateur Radio in emergency response, but also reaffirmed the importance of strong collaboration between the RSSL and the Disaster Management Centre in building national communication resilience and public awareness." [endquote]

Sri Lanka was among the many nations struck by the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in late 2004 that killed tens of thousands.