Phivolcs discovers landslide zones in La Union village

SAN FERNANDO, La Union, Philippines – The Philippine Ins-titute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has discovered potentially dangerous landslide zones in Barangay Nagyubuyuban here.

Edna Patricia Mendoza, Phivolcs senior science research specialist, said massive movement of underground soil has created cracks in the concrete floorings of several houses in the village, while the landscape of adjacent areas has subsided by about six feet.

Nagyubuyuban, an upland barangay located some 10 kilometers east of the city proper, is among the sites in the country recommended for the deployment of Phivolcs’ landslide sensors.

Mendoza and her team went to Nagyubuyuban after Phivolcs director Renato Solidum Jr. wrote Mayor Pablo Ortega about the agency’s program, started in 2008, to develop and deploy early warning systems for deep-seated catastrophic landslides.

Homeowner Erinia Judan said the cracks in her house appeared after heavy rains last year. The city environment office earlier had reported to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau the soil erosion and cracks in the houses in Nagyubuyuban.

The report prompted Mendoza’s team to inspect the village also as part of Phivolcs’ program on landslide early warning system.

Ortega said they have laid out an emergency disaster plan for the Nagyubuyuban residents.

Mendoza said they will install sensors in the village to monitor soil movement.