A Filipino rescuer conducting a high-angle rescue operation during an earthquake preparedness drill yesterday at a building in Makati City, south of the Philippines' capital Manila. Thousands of people took part in the drill to prepare the city of nearly 12 million for a magnitude 7.2 quake that could kill thousands and displace millions, Mr Francis Tolentino, head of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), said. In a study by the MMDA and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, an earthquake of magnitude 7.2 in Metro Manila is projected to kill at least 34,000 people and injure another 114,000. Almost half a million houses would collapse or be damaged.