Is Ph Ready Yet for the Earthquake?

Quite dated as this was posted on April 21, 2010. But check out, the details and facts are as true as today. Some scientists say Manila is in line for a major earthquake. CNN’s Anna Coren reports above.


In 2004 a Metro Manila Earthquake Impact Reduction Study was commissioned on the probable scenarios of earthquake impact in Metro Manila. It disclosed that a big inland earthquake of 7.2 magnitude could happen in the area as an offshoot of the movement of the West Valley (Marikina) Fault.

The impact of such earthquake in Metro Manila is foreseen to be serious. Thirty five percent of all public buildings, including schools and hospitals, city halls, fire and police stations, would be damaged and seven bridges would likely fall down, the study disclosed. All these structural failures, the report said, would result in 34,000 deaths and 114,000 injuries. This is the scenario of davastation that would unfold (circa 2004).

An official of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) expressed the agency would be practically helpless in the face of such a catastrophe, mainly because of the lack of high-end equipment such as helicopters and chemical fire trucks.

“When a fire occurs in the Pandacan area, when that is affected by an earthquake, the BFP cannot cope with the job,” Chief Supt. Victoriano Remedio, director for operations, told the Senate committee on climate change during a hearing on disaster preparedness.

Remedio opined the bureau “really has no capability,” noting that its equipment were limited to dealing primarily with low-rise buildings. And after the hearing, Remedio parted with a dire comment that “the BFP was also ill-equipped in dealing with hazardous materials in the event of an earthquake similar to the one that hit Japan on March 11”.

Public works undersecretary for technical services Raul Asis disclosed there were still 20 bridges in Metro Manila that would require retrofitting in accordance with current structural standards.

Massive infra concentrated in Metro Manila for lucky urban dwellers some poor regions can only dream of and may never get one in the next hundred years.

Actually, there should be more infrastructures up and about in Metro Manila and in the provinces that needs updating, rehabilitation, retroffitting or maintenance enough to fit a good many pages on this blog. But it is not the question of how many more infras of these kind but how much can the (bankrupt) government afford and if ever it has the will power to implement the task on hand.

The sound and uproar in the august halls of the senate and other venues come at a time when people see the horrifying effects of natural calamaties and catastrophies on their living rooms. And when the ebb of tide has settled back for a while, everything will become okay without any sizable ground of improvement done. Always, same old same old attitude of the elected and the electors.

And yet, we read about some superman wanting to help Japan and the hapless victims of tsunami only to be (rebuffed) turned down by the intended recipient immediately.

Brace yourselves people. Something coming may be bigger than a grain of sand enough to blind one’s eyes forever!(https://cbanga360.net)


One thought on “Is Ph Ready Yet for the Earthquake?”

  1. Instead of a search-and-rescue team, the Philippines is sending P1.3 million worth of emergency relief supplies to Japan for victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami.

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