By Alyssa Sevilla
Correspondent

Over 46,400 people have died across Turkey and Syria, thousands are still missing, and millions have been injured and displaced due to the two massive earthquakes that hit both countries last February 6, 2023. From that number, 2 Filipinos have died and 34 others have been evacuated.

While the whole world is grieving and extending help and the United Nations has launched appeals totaling £1.25 Billion to help the survivors in both countries, some critics are looking at the Turkish government and how they weren’t able to enforce building regulations and not doing enough preparations from the last major earthquake in Turkey in 1999 where more than 30,000 people have died.

It is really crucial to prepare for earthquake hazards years before they even happen because we never know exactly when they will occur.

The question now is, “Is the Philippines prepared for major earthquakes such as this?”

In an interview of Mr. Mahar Lagmay, Executive Director, University of the Philippines Resilience Institute with CNN Philippines, he agreed with the host that there are imminent fault systems in the country that are ripe and moving consistently.

“Based on the studies, I think the Marikina West Valley Fault is ripe. PHIVOLCS have been saying that, and I’ve been echoing that as well. They have moved for the past several hundred years. There’s a frequency interval according to the study of USGS and PHIVOLCS in the past 1,200 years. It has moved 3-4 times, and the last one was about probably 300-350 years ago.” Lagmay said.

“So faults behave that way, they move and then they accumulate energy, and when the energy is so big, they move again, generating an earthquake.” he added.

This should serve as a warning to people, and especially businesses, to follow safety and quality standards to avoid earthquake hazards. Instead of being scared and panicky, we need to know what to prepare.

According to the expert, earthquakes are natural movements of the earth where big plates, or slabs of rocks under the earth’s surface move and sometimes collide. “I’d like to point out that earthquakes per se don’t kill. So if earthquakes happen, even when they are strong, but if you’re in an open field, you will not die. You’ll probably get dizzy or thrown out of the ground, but you won’t die. What kills are the hazards brought about by earthquakes,” Lagman emphasized.

He enumerated the types of hazards that we need to prepare for as early as now:

1. Ground rupture – it is obvious that you should not build a house or a building on top of a fault line or fault system.
2. Ground shaking – shaking doesn’t kill but it’s when buildings collapse during ground shaking where people get killed. Ensure that you follow building codes to prove your house or building is sturdy. PHIVOLCS has this code and guidelines to find out if your structure is safe.
3. Liquefaction – when the earth shakes, water underground mixes with gravel and sand and it gets softer like quicksand, so buildings on top of them should be constructed accordingly.
4. Landslides – if there are earthquakes, landslides ensue. For example, in Bohol earthquake in 2015, there were so many landslides. As early as now, look into landslide hazard maps, see if your house or building is in the path of a landslide. You don’t want to be in the path of a landslide, so if you can’t move away from it, make sure to have an evacuation plan.
5. Fire – make sure your gasoline tanks and pipes will not just break. Check everything in your house or building that are flammable. In informal settlements, dense settlements, fire will break out rapidly. If you prepare for them as early as now, you can avoid fire.

Tsunami – if the earthquakes happen off-shore, know your evacuation plan, wherever you are. Make sure you are safe from big waves, drowning, flooding, and other dangers of a tsunami wave.
Other than those hazards, we also need to prepare ourselves by being conscious about the storage of our fragile items and flammable liquids. Know our maps and evacuation plans. Prepare an emergency go-bag that is easy to grab, stock it up with supplies like radio, flashlights, batteries, first aid kits, bottled water, at least two weeks worth of food and medical supplies, blankets, dust masks, garbage bags, whistle (to signal for help), among other things.

“Since the earth is constantly moving, all these plates will continue to collide will each other and continue to release energy and most likely earthquakes will happen.” he added.

In the world map, we have the Pacific Ring of Fire markings where plates collide with each other and earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are most likely to happen in these areas.

In the Philippines alone, we have 5 active fault lines that we need to keep watch:

1. Marikina Valley Fault System
2. Western Philippine Fault Lines
3. Eastern Philippine Fault Lines
4. Southern Mindanao Fault Lines
5. Central Philippine Fault Zone

As mentioned in the first part of the article, Marikina Valley Fault System is the most hazardous because it runs through the most crowded and busy areas in Metro Manila and it is the most seismically active fault system in the country. In addition, it may cause Taal Volcano to erupt.

Mahar Lagmay also said that there are more faults than that, “we have the Philippine Trench, the Cotabato Trench, the Negros Trench, and these are faults as well. They can move, and they can generate earthquakes, including associated hazards like tsunamis.”

In Turkey, the North Anatolian fault stretches up to 1500km and the longer the fault line is, the bigger the potential earthquake it can generate. The Marikina Valley Fault alone is 146km so it’s really best to be proactive in preparing for earthquake hazards.

Aside from following building safety standards, make sure you also know what to do during an earthquake. In your household and workplaces, practice Drop, Cover, and Hold. It is good to have earthquake drills from time to time. Know where to find open areas to run to, or if none, know which furniture you can hide under to protect yourself.

Lastly, to stay safe after an earthquake, check yourself for injuries and check others around you, look around for any damages and be prepared for aftershocks and only return when authorities say that it is safe to go back.