Phivolcs, Bohol gov cite limitations vs calamities

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines — The recent earthquake that struck the Visayas regions had put to the test the capabilities of the Phivolcs to monitor danger areas and the readiness of the provincial government against calamities.

Phivolcs research analyst Nolan Evangelista said the agency rely on seismic data and its possible that several seismic movements, years before Phivolcs was created in 1985, were not recorded.

Earth movements monitored in 1900s and onwards were only based on the data from the Manila Observatory that was put up by the Jesuits in the Philippines in 1865. This explains why Phivolcs has lesser data, especially that fault movements only rebound in 30 to 100 years, Evangelista said.

Evangelista said more stations, spread out to strategic areas of the country, are needed more than new sets of equipment to efficiently map fault lines and monitor seismic movements. With more stations, Phivolcs will have wider coverage of monitored areas and enable it to get more data even with the existing equipment, he said.

On the part of the provincial government, Governor Edgar Chatto admitted there is still a lot of things be done to improve disaster preparedness.

The LGU is now conducting several rounds of trainings to strengthen disaster response teams in the towns and barangays, he said, adding that volunteer units of the Red Cross must also be established in the barangays in addition to the Provincial Risk Reduction Management Council teams.

Bohol also needs to acquire additional equipment to make the disaster management teams efficient in quick response activities. Preparations shall include identification of sites vulnerable to flooding and landslide, based on topographic and hazard maps, to guide the LGU in zoning plans and enforcing measures to mitigate impact of calamities, said Chatto.