If the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that shook Bohol and nearby provinces this week were to happen in Metro Manila, the temblor could easily kill 37,000 people and cause about PHP2.4-trillion damage to structures, reports Frances Mangosing on Inquirer.net.
“The Philippines is prone to hazards including earthquakes due to its geological location. It is in the Pacific Ring of Fire, and it is prone to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes,” says Renato Solidum, chief of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. The Marikina Valley Fault cuts through Metro Manila which puts the capital at risk. Seismologists say the fault system moves every 400 years on the average and it last moved 355 years ago. “It is ripe for movement but no one can predict the exact time when it will move,” Philvocs said in a statement earlier this week.
Results of a three-year risk analysis project, a joint effort of the Australian and Philippine governments, were disclosed on Thursday, quite timely considering the destruction wrought on Bohol and Cebu by Tuesday morning’s powerful quake. The project forms part of the Multi-hazard and Risk Maps for the Greater Metro Manila Area, which was done on the International Day of Disaster Risk Reduction.
