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Disaster-mitigation capabilities in West Sumatra and efforts to educate the public about how to respond to earthquakes have improved markedly in recent years, an official said on Wednesday.

Over the past five years, significant progress has been made in raising public awareness, said Soetrisno, deputy for emergency response at the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) . “There are drills so people know what to do when an earthquake strikes,” he said.

He said the effectiveness of these efforts was evident in the fact that fewer people died in last month’s 7.6 magnitude quake than in the one that hit Yogyakarta and killed nearly 5,800 people in May 2006.

By Tuesday night, the death toll in West Sumatra stood at 704, with 295 people missing.

Soetrisno said most of the casualties were people buried during the landslide in Tandikek, outside of Padang. “We actually told people there that the area was a red zone, or at risk,” he said. “But many people insisted on staying because the soil is fertile and good for farming.”

In the future, the government will continue to update earthquake maps and issue warnings to people who insist on staying in areas where the potential for landslides is high, he said. The authorities will also continue to educate the public about how to respond during earthquakes.

People who live in quake-prone areas generally know about the dangers, but many older residents in those places still do not know what to do during an earthquake, other than to get out of buildings as quickly as possible.

“There has never been any kind of educational program,” said Nursiah, a 52-year-old resident of Pagang Nanggalo.

Children, however, usually know what to do if a major earthquake strikes.

“Hide under a table or run to an open field,” said Nadia Putri Yuliani, 9, a student in Berok. “I’ve been taught by my teacher.”