Filipinos are used to natural disasters, typhoons and earthquakes occurring most frequently. But we can’t help being alarmed at the series of tremors rocking the island of Mindanao in recent days: Two on Oct. 16 magnitudes 6.3 and 5.5), another two on Oct.29 (magnitude 6.6 and 6.1), one on Oct. 31 (magnitude 6.5), and a magnitude 4.5 aftershock on Nov. 1.
An official of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology says this was the first time he has seen several strong earthquakes in a span of just a few weeks. Associate scientist Toto Bacolcol says that the long fault in Cotabato is capable of generating an even stronger one.
“In that area, you have several closely placed faults, near to each other,” Bacolcol said. “It’s possible that one fault would trigger another fault to move. We call that stress transfer.”
Meanwhile, in a radio interview, officer in charge of the agency’s Seismological Observation and Earthquake Prediction Division Ishmael Narag explored what might have caused the series of quakes: One fault causing them all, segments of a fault triggering each other, an entire fault system, or a series of faults that affect each other.
These experts notwithstanding, nobody can yet predict when and where exactly the next one of considerable magnitude will strike. The best we can do is work with likelihoods and possibilities.
One, given our location on the planet, we must first and foremost recognize that there is no escaping the danger that lurks beneath our feet.
Two, earthquakes per se hardly kill—it is their consequences, in the form of collapsing structures, or fires, that do. Given this, the government should take the lead in ensuring that buildings are sound and electrical systems are in place. Structure owners should also be conscientious in doing the same.
Three, while we cannot predict the exact moment when earthquakes will strike, we can look ahead to what might happen and what we can do when a temblor does strike. We can anticipate a disruption in the things we take for granted—electricity, water, and transport, distribution, financial and medical systems. What is our recourse when our “normal” is challenged? How can we continue functioning the best we can?
Local governments play a crucial role in these preparations, but families too must have their own scenarios and action plans.
No one in his right mind could fancy himself able to stop an earthquake if one talks to it and tells it to stop. Woe, too, to those who take such hogwash at face value. But everyone should have the mind to know that despite the awesome power of nature, we can lessen our vulnerability to and helplessness before it—if we think ahead and plan what to do in the likely event of yet another shaking.