For the first time, countries and regions across the Pacific rim joined a May 16-17 tsunami- warning drill, U.S. media reported Wednesday.

The aim of the unprecedented two-day, Pacific-wide exercise -- code-named "Pacific Wave 06" -- is to avoid a repeat of the 2004 disaster in the Indian Ocean, where a tsunami left more than 200, 000 people dead or missing, according to the report.

On Tuesday, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii and other sub-regional warning centers sent out warnings of a mock earthquake off the coast of central Chile to over 30 countries and regions in the Pacific rim.

In Wednesday morning, a mock warning of a tsunami triggered by an imaginary earthquake in the northern Philippines, put participating countries and regions in the Western Pacific and the South China Sea on high alert.

During the drills, warnings were relayed in numerous ways, including e-mail, fax and text messages.

Participants were asked to simulate a national emergency response to the warnings.

In Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, partial evacuations were ordered in coastal areas.

In Hawaii, emergency responders tested their ability to deal with an unlikely scenario: a category four hurricane and a 10- meter tsunami approaching the islands at the same time.

"Theoretically, it's possible that you could have two disasters at the same time," state Civil Defense spokesman Ray Lovell said. "We might as well see how well we can handle this."

The exercise took on an air of reality when real earthquakes hit New Zealand and Indonesia on Tuesday, and Tonga on Wednesday.

None of the earthquakes was strong enough to trigger real tsunami warnings, but they were a reminder of how volatile the region is.

The organizers of the exercise plan to hold regular Pacific- wide tsunami drills in the future.

Source: Xinhua