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Coping with Earthquakes in the Philippines |
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by Bam Azores | 15-02-2017 12:47
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My brother and I are both studying in Universities far away from home so we have to live in dormitories. I live in Quezon City while my brother lives in Davao City. Just recently, we discovered that our cities share one thing in common and that is we live in places that have active earthquake fault lines. How dangerous is that? Well, let me say that earthquakes can cause major damage specially around the epicenter.
Just last week, Surigao City also here in the Philippines experienced a magnitude 6.7 earthquake on February 10, 2017. To date, more than 8 people have died and so much damage was reported. There continue to be aftershocks which is expected. Both Surigao and Davao are on the island of Mindanao. The distance between the two cities is 373 km., so the earthquake in Surigao was also felt by my brother in Davao. The earthquake was caused by movement in the Surigao-Mati Fault Line. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvocs) found many new cracks in that fault line. Mati City is in the province of Davao Oriental. Philvocs has predicted that a powerful earthquake (magnitude 7 or more) can strike Davao anytime. When my brother and I were talking about this, he mentioned that he saw some cracks on the wall of his room in the dormitory he stays in. This would be dangerous if an earthquake hits because we doubt the structural integrity of the building. We decided that he better look for another place to stay in just to be safe. As for me, I live in Quezon City and my university and most of the dorms in the area sit on the West Marikina Valley Fault Line, which is another active fault line in the country. If an earthquake hits, there will be much damage because it is densely populated urban area. In fact, I have read that residential areas might have the most damage because of poorer construction standards. Well, I have looked around my building and it seems strong and it does not sit exactly on the fault line unlike the other dorms. The Philippines is prone to earthquakes and we need to work around this natural phenomena. We need to build our homes and buildings in a way that they are flexible and can sway with the shaking of the ground during an earthquake. We also need to build as far away from the fault line as possible. This way we can avoid damage and death due to earthquakes. |
 
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9 Comments
Hey Bam, one of the grim aspects of the future is the increase of earth slates movement! Scientists have shown there has been a significant increase in the number of earthquakes especially in the pacific region! As the Philippines is located right in the center of danger zone, I hope preparation could be properly carried out before unwanted events ever happen. cheers
Posted 28-02-2017 07:30
Wow! That was a great report! Tell you brother to take care of himself as it is very scary and dangerous to be left in a building which will fall down whenever it wants...
Posted 25-02-2017 16:58
Well-written! I am also from the PH and this is indeed very true!
Posted 19-02-2017 17:57
Thanks for the nice report. Hope such calamities reduce.
Posted 18-02-2017 21:40
Prevention is better than cure. Sturdy construction is an answer to this problem. Thanks for sharing.
Posted 16-02-2017 20:50
Thanks for sharing. I hope Philippines learns from Japan when it comes to building infrastructure that can withstand earthquakes and other natural phenomena.
Posted 16-02-2017 02:05
Let's hope that nothing happens but as Minjoo Mentor said these natural disasters are beyond anyone's control but one can be prepared to ensure minimum impact. I agree with you that residential accommodations should be far from earth quake fault line and buildings should be quake proof. Thanks for sharing. Take care and all the best.
Posted 16-02-2017 01:17
Thanks for sharing. Like Philippines, Nepal is also a highly prone area for earthquake. Recently the devastating earthquake of 2015 destroyed huge amount of life and property.Still today Nepal has been listed as highly possible for earthquake.
Posted 15-02-2017 16:22
Thanks for sharing, Bam! It is my first time acknowledging that the Philippines is suffering from possibility of damage from earthquakes. Similar to other natural disasters, it is almost impossible to prevent earthquakes, so it may be the best to construct stronger buildings that can minimize the damage and life loss. I sincerely hope for you and your brother's safety. Have a great day :)
Posted 15-02-2017 15:18