Visitors learn how to evacuate from a subway carriage during a earthquake drill at China Fire Museum on Wednesday. Visitor numbers are up since the recent disasters in Yunnan and Japan. [Photo/China Daily]

A Beijing museum that offers an earthquake simulator and disaster survival advice has received a rush of visitors since the devastating events in Yunnan province and Japan last week.

Staff at the China Fire Museum in Xicheng district said a record of 700 people passed through its doors last Sunday, with several groups and at least 200 individuals already booked up for this weekend.

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Parents and children are making up a large proportion of the visitors, publicity officer Hao Ziqiang told METRO, adding: "Most visitors are really into our earthquake simulation facilities."

Although the museum will not be open properly until later this year, several interactive and multimedia exhibitions are up and running, including a motion simulator that recreates a bar scene during a tremor of up to 7.0 magnitude. Other displays offer tips on how to survive a fire and which extinguisher to use in different situations.

"We were taught to hide under our desks when an earthquake hit, but I was so scared at the beginning that I forgot what to do," said Yuan Xiaomin, a waitress at You'anmen Hotel, shortly after experiencing the simulator on Wednesday.

Wang Wanting, 6, who was visiting the museum with her 65-year-old grandmother, told METRO she had learned about the "triangle of life" - a survival technique that involves using furniture to block falling debris.

At the Public Security Museum in Haidian district, which also has similar disaster-themed facilities, a receptionist called Li said phones "have been ringing non-stop for the past few days" with people wanting to register.

The venue, however, has been closed since January for maintenance.

"There are a lot of museums in Japan that teach how their citizens should act in natural disasters," added Hao at China Fire Museum.

"They contribute a lot. It means people can act quickly if a catastrophe happens."