Earthquake is also happening here
I was prepared to write about the 6.1 earthquake that struck Zambales and northern Metro Manila when I went to Starbucks in Ayala which is at the fourth floor when an earthquake struck. It felt like a 3 in the Richter Scale and later, through my friends, I was told that it struck Calbayog, Samar, with a magnitude of 6.2. About two hours earlier, another quake struck in Surigao. I guess I will have to wait for what the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) will officially say about these recent natural phenomena.
Meanwhile, according to the news reports, Phivolcs, said that the quake in Luzon hit Castillejos, Zambales, at around 5:11 p.m. The quake was tectonic in origin. It earlier recorded a magnitude 5.7 quake before revising it to magnitude 6.1. This was generally felt by people who were indoors and some people outdoors, which was recorded in Pasig City, Makati City, Caloocan City, Marikina City, and Las Piñas City. I’m sure that electric posts were downed because of the quake.
In another news report we learned that Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum allayed fears that the Monday afternoon quake that was the so-called “Big One,” which is a hypothetical magnitude-7.2 earthquake on the West Valley Fault. Solidum said: “This is definitely not a major earthquake,” adding that the earthquake was in Zambales. He also mentioned that a 2004 study funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency for Phivolcs and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority showed that a magnitude-7.2 quake could kill up to 34,000 people and injure up to 100,000 others due to collapsed buildings. At least we know that this wasn’t the “Big One” that people have feared.
What is worrisome is that just a day after the Zambales quake, there was a reported earthquake in Surigao and in the afternoon, a magnitude-6.2 quake struck in Calbayog, Samar, which was felt in Cebu City. At this point we can hope and pray that the quakes would stop. In my quake app I also learned that an earthquake struck Taiwan.
Meanwhile, the terminal building at the Clark International Airport had to be closed due to quake damage. Cebu Pacific issued a communiqué that flights 5J 120 Clark-Hong Kong, 5J 121 Hong Kong-Clark,5J 370 Clark-Macau, 5J 371 Macau-Clark, 5J 608 Clark-Cebu, 5J 609 Cebu-Clark, 5J 607 Clark-Cebu,5J 606 Cebu-Clark, 5J 613 Clark-Bohol (Tagbilaran), 5J 614 Bohol (Tagbilaran)-Clark, 5J 913 Clark-Caticlan (Boracay), 5J 914 Caticlan (Boracay)-Clark, 5J 537 Clark-Singapore, 5J 538 Singapore-Clark, SJ 150 Clark-Hong Kong, 5J 120 Clark-Hong Kong, 5J 985 Clark-Davao, and 5J 986 Davao-Clark were suspended. My fears here is that with the suspension of these flights, it would only mean congestion in the NAIA terminals in Pasay City.
At this point, I dare say that it is high time for the local government to send teams of engineers to look into what possible building damage may have been caused. Cebu City now has a lot of tall buildings and it is high time we look into the construction of these buildings for the sake of the people who work in those buildings or their tenants.
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I could help but notice The FREEMAN’s editorial yesterday entitled “Why many still disregard environmental laws”. As the editorial pointed out: “The problem regarding the huge volume of trash left unattended during the Holy Week activities in Bantayan Island has again become the center of debate, especially on social media, among Cebuanos divided by the absence of a clear implementation of waste disposal laws and ordinances.
“The Freeman posted photos online of large amounts of garbage left behind in the beaches of Sante Fe town. The almost four truckloads of trash were left for several days by beachgoers who trooped to the island for the holiday break. As usual, the post drew outrage from many netizens who strongly criticized those beachgoers for not practicing proper waste disposal. They also demanded sanctions on those violating environmental laws.”
Call that editorial timely and proof that we Filipinos are not like the Dutch who are naturally clean. Filipinos are just too dirty as a people and it is high time to start apprehending violators who throw their trash indiscriminately. The only way for people to change their reckless attitude is to get fined or imprisoned for these gross mistakes that they are making. When government apprehends violators then we might end up becoming a clean people.
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