Some 250 people, including foreign students from a Japanese language school, took part in a natural disaster drill Wednesday that simulated a massive earthquake hitting Asakusa, a major tourist area in Tokyo's Taito Ward.

The scenario of the drill assumed an earthquake registering upper 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 hit the area. Participants moved to an evacuation area from the famed Sensoji Temple and the Nakamise shopping area.

"I have experienced an earthquake in Japan only once and it was really scary," said a 22-year-old participant from Uzbekistan. "After experiencing today's drill I want to act calmly in the event of another quake."

The drill, organized by the Asakusa Tourism Information Association, was held ahead of the sixth anniversary of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami that ravaged the northern Tohoku region.