Phivolcs to public: No to complacency, be prepared for strong quakes

MANILA, Philippines — Many Filipinos should not be complacent and think that they will be spared from a powerful earthquake like the one that recently struck parts of Mindanao, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) Director Teresito Bacolcol said on Thursday.

“Since it happened in Mindanao, they might think that it will not happen here. That’s normalization bias,” Bacolcol said during the Kapihan sa Manila Hotel forum.

According to the latest update of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck off Sarangani and affected nearby provinces left 77 people dead, 1,339 people injured, and 31 people missing.

The earthquake also affected approximately 1.64 million people or 383,000 families.

‘It did not happen in my lifetime because I did not experience that, I only experienced weak earthquakes… Which is wrong because it happened in the past and it will happen again,” Bacolcol said.

Bacolcol, however, clarified that a magnitude 7.8 earthquake will not be possible in Metro Manila “as the maximum credible earthquake that will be generated by the West Valley Fault is only magnitude 7.2.”

Bacolcol emphasized the importance of being prepared, especially in anticipation of the “Big One” earthquake, or the magnitude 7.2 earthquake along the West Valley Fault which could kill more than 33,000 people.

He said that families should prepare a “Go Bag” that could sustain every family for 72 hours after an earthquake.

“Preparedness is not just the business of the institute, Office of Civil Defense, it’s everyone’s collective duty to prepare. Families should also prepare on their own,” he pointed out

More aware than before

He also said that the country may not be 100% ready for the “Big One” earthquake, but “people are now more aware than [they were] 20 or 30 years ago.”

He attributed the increase in awareness of strong earthquakes to the advent of social media and regular earthquake drills in different institutions.

Despite this, Bacolcol said that there is a need to intensify assessment on the structure of houses.

“What we need is to intensify assessment on our houses because based on the study, around 13% of residential buildings will sustain heavy damage if a magnitude 7.2 earthquake occurs.”

He also said that houses should be retrofitted to become earthquake-resilient.  /gsg