The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Saturday urged Filipinos to "take every shake drill seriously" after strong tremors hit Batanes.

"Let us take every shake drill seriously. Just this morning, an earthquake struck Batanes which caused casualties and damage to properties," MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim said in a statement.

The fifth Metro Manila Shake Drill started 4 am when loud alarms went off in Pasig and Marikina.

Auto-generated text messages and alarms were also sent to Metro Manila residents.

Lim lauded the demonstration and preparedness of those who participated.

"We have seen that government, non-government organizations, private sector and volunteers can work together in making Metro Manila stronger against any disaster. Gone are the days that preparedness and response mechanism is very much government-centric," Lim said.

"We commend the private sector for actively taking part by initiating major scenarios in each of the four quadrants, forming quick response groups, and committing resources in this activity," he added.

Different scenarios were done which measured how fast participants reacted in responding to an earthquake, especially rescue and evacuation.

Lim said despite twin earthquakes in Batanes, the drill staged in Metro Manila was a success.

"With the success of this year’s activity, rest assured that the Metro Manila Shake Drill will continue to level up to intensify our level of awareness, preparedness, and responsiveness as we also continue to step up our set-up and scenarios each year until we’ve achieved the highest level of disaster preparedness and risk reduction awareness," he said. Cristina Eloisa Baclig/DMS