Simulated earthquake hits region

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - You are going to see a lot of emergency activity this week around western New York.

It's all part of a six day disaster drill, called Vigilant Guard, a simulated earthquake hits the Buffalo-Niagara region.

The old Spaulding Fiber Plant in the City of Tonawanda was transformed into an earthquake zone.

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Monday, they conducted search and rescue drills and pulled victims from debris of the 5.9 magnitude quake. 2,600 emergency responders from 150 agencies are taking part in the drill this week. It's one of the largest of its kind in the nation, and certainly the biggest organized drill western New York has seen.

County Executive Chris Collins says western New York knows a thing or two about disasters.

Collins said, "It seems as though Erie County has had one emergency after another, after another because we have. So where better to hold an exercise than here in Erie County?"

"We are planning our own exercise next year, so we saw the scale of this exercise and it was similar to what we are planning next year so we weer keen to come over and learn the lessons we could, about how this exercise was organized and run and prepared and so on," said Peter Crook, of United Kingdom Forest Service.

The drill runs through Friday.

Tuesday, the action moves to the Niagara Falls Air Reserve station.

Members of the 107th airlift wing take part in the drill, practicing their skills on simulated victims.