Published February 17, 2023, 12:05 AM
How prepared are we in the event “The Big One”—a magnitude-7.2 earthquake triggered by the movement of the West Valley Fault—strikes in Metro Manila?
The question comes to mind in the wake of the devastation caused by the magnitude-7.8 earthquake that hit Turkiye and Syria.
A study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency for the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority paints a grim scenario in case The Big One occurs.
Based on the study released in 2004, at least 34,000 persons will die while 114,000 will be injured, and 40 percent of residential buildings in Metro Manila will be affected—170,000 houses will collapse while another 340,000 will be partly damaged—and about 500 fire incidents will occur within the first hour of the earthquake.
With this bleak picture, to what extent has the government prepared for this?
To get a clearer view of how the government will respond to such an eventuality, House Speaker Martin Romualdez is planning to summon all disaster agencies and first responder units.
He wants to find out if the government has an operational plan or “Oplan” in case The Big One hits the country.
“We want to find out if we are really ready and what the public needs to do,” he said, recalling that the same level of catastrophe already happened during Typhoon “Yolanda” where first responders also became the victims. “Who’s going to replace them, do we have enough equipment to dig through the rubble or does the government have enough food packs for the thousands who would be affected by this earthquake?”
“Do we have enough equipment and manpower? Because the first 24 hours are very critical. If we don’t have, then let’s prepare and anticipate,” Romualdez said. “We really have to be ready from rescue to medical attention and food distribution.”
Romualdez’s move is a welcome development and the House of Representatives should waste no time in summoning disaster officials so they can unveil their plans. If something is lacking, then there is still time to fine-tune it. If the plan is well-crafted, then brief the public now to educate the people on what to do and how to react in the event The Big One happens.
We should take note that the West Valley Fault may be due for another major movement. In previous briefings, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology bared studies showing that the West Valley Fault moved four times in the past 1,400 years, with a movement interval between 400 to 600 years. The last major earthquake event generated by the movement of the fault was in 1658. Based on this, a major movement may happen in our generation.
We can’t prevent an act of nature from happening, but we can prepare for this eventuality and pray for God’s intervention.
Let’s do it now. Tomorrow might be too late.
