An earthquake is something we should all fear

At this point I am already getting so tired of all the political news. As I am sure most everyone else is too. It’s all about the bickering and the accusations and news about political alliances and turncoats. This is especially true now that election season is creeping upon us and it will only continue to get worse as the months pass. All people seem to be talking about is who will run, who won’t run, who is running with whom, which party has the upper hand, and of course, the never-ending SWS and Pulse Asia surveys which aren’t even always accurate.

Sure, this is important to the country and the information should be important to voters, as there is nothing more dangerous than a voter who is uninformed. However, I personally believe that it’s all the same information being recycled over and over again depending on who is dishing it out. It’s not like we are getting new news or any fact and evidence-based news for that matter. It’s the same mud-slinging with no resolution and that is not going to make us better voters, it’s just going to do the job it was intended for – make the voters confused and not know what is real from what is not.

Personally, I think there is still a bit of time to sift through the election mess and hopefully come up with a suitable candidate to really make some solid changes in the country. That will take time. In the meantime, alongside thinking about who our next leaders will be, I think it’s also important for us to make sure that we are around to see this next phase in Philippine politics. A subject that I think deserves our attention just as much is our safety and disaster preparedness in case a devastating earthquake ever hits Manila.

I’ve written in columns in the past about how important it is to be safe rather than sorry, and I’m wondering if enough changes have been made to make our country more prepared to face Mother Nature’s wrath. We all saw how horribly unprepared we were when super typhoon Yolanda hit and we are still dealing with the rebuilding from that tragedy. These types of natural catastrophic events can be seen as great equalizers, and when Yolanda came to the country with her devastating power, everyone was affected, young and old, rich and poor. Granted, the rich were probably able to get back on their feet faster than others, it still shows that no amount of money can really protect you from nature when it’s time to pay the piper.

Having said all that, it is really important for us to always be as prepared as possible for the next “big one.” I have to admit we’ve been doing a little better when it comes to storms. We seem to get the warning earlier and precautions are taken in advance. Even when the worst inevitably does not pass, we are at least more prepared just in case. I think this is something that should apply to every natural disaster and not just typhoons.

We all still remember how a big earthquake demolished Baguio City in July of 1990. It was the strongest quake to hit the Philippines with a 7.9 magnitude on the Richter scale in 45 seconds, killing an estimated 1,600+ people and causing damages worth more than P15 billion back in the ‘90s. No one ever forgot that and though we have had a few quakes since, a horrible 7.2 hit Bohol and Cebu, but nothing as high as Baguio. I still remember the Hyatt Terraces Hotel crumbled like a deck of cards crushing so many in the rubble. I never want to see that happen again.

It’s natural that we think about our own earthquake preparedness these days, on the heels of the tragedy in Nepal. The country was hit by not one but two massive 7 and above magnitude quakes and was devastated. My heart goes out to the people who are still trying to piece back their lives and looked for loved ones in what remains. Their lives will never be the same again. I really pray for the strength they will need to rise from the rubble and rebuild.

It’s exceptionally scary for us because we have seen what could happen if a strong earthquake were to hit Metro Manila. We could literally see Manila get torn in two. Not to mention the infrastructure damage that would occur and the horrible death toll (last prediction was in the 30,000s at least). We’ve been known to scrimp on costs when it comes to infrastructure durability and safety and it would not surprise me in the least if so many of our high-rises, buildings, malls, and more were not earthquake safe or build to code. What would happen to them – and all of us – should a big one hit the city?

Now I am not trying to be a doomsday prophet or anything like that. I don’t want to scare anyone for the sake of scaring. I just think it is important to be aware of what could happen so that we are able to prepare the best we can. I gladly welcome the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) detailed study about the West Valley Fault Line that was recently made public. It outlines the area that the fault line snakes through and we can clearly see which areas would be most affected by a quake — which is basically all of Metro Manila. The fault line is littered with condominium buildings, schools, offices, malls, and so many of the staples of daily life. What would happen to these and surrounding structures if a magnitude 7 or above were to hit?

Senator Angara along with Phivolcs has renewed his calls to make earthquake preparedness mandatory and to put a plan in place should we have a massive hit. According to Phivolcs the West Valley Fault Line is “ripe” for activity and a massive quake could happen in our lifetime. After all, most fault lines experience activity every 400-600 years and at this point the West Valley Fault has been 357 years since the last tectonic activity. Senator Angara is calling on everyone to put a plan in place should an earthquake hit and wants to make sure there are enough resources should this tragedy happen including hospitals, disaster management centers, passable roads, broadcast media, fire and ambulance services, and telecommunications facilities.

This is all very important and should be done as soon as possible. Even though we can’t predict when the fault line will throw a tantrum it’s always better to be prepared way in advance than regret it later on. If what they say is true that Metro Manila could be torn in two, we have to have a contingency on what to do should that happen. We have to make sure there is protocol in place so we aren’t running around like chickens with our heads cut off. I really hope that due to recent events we will give this the importance it deserves.

After all, the scariest part in all of this is that there is truly no way to predict if and when a massive earthquake will hit. As the research shows, it can happen any time from 400-600 years, which means that a devastating quake could hit any time in the next 40-240 years! That’s a lot of time to be on our toes and of course, we can’t spend our lives in fear.

There is also no way of getting early warning of an earthquake. It just happens. So the best things we can do is conceptualize and implement the plan now so that it is ready, prepare as much as we can, be informed, and leave the rest to prayer.