Phivolcs belies report Dagupan is most vulnerable to disasters
DAGUPAN CITY – There is no truth to the earlier reports that Dagupan is among the most vulnerable cities in the country today.
This was the assessment of Dr. Maria Leonila P. Bautista, associate scientist of the Philippine Volcanology and Seismology of the Department of Science and Technology (Phivolcs-DOST) who said it is most unfair for Dagupan and other places to be tagged as most vulnerable places in the country.
In fact, there is no place that is indispensable when a disaster like typhoon, earthquake or a tsunami strikes, she stressed.
Bautista led Phivolcs officials in conducting a six-day training seminar from February 9-14 at CSI Stadia on the use of the Rapid Earthquake Damage Assessment System (REDAS) software developed by their agency.
The software which was shared by Phivolcs to the participants will serve as a tool for the local governments in mainstreaming disaster reduction in their local development planning process.
The training was organized by Mayor Belen T. Fernandez to build a disaster-resilient Balon Dagupan that highly subscribes to the principle that “family preparedness is disaster preparedness”.
With the new version of REDAS, it is now easy for LGUs to interpret all the data gathered in the field.
Dagupan is one of the few cities today that has access to the new version of REDAS.
The participants were taught hands-on in simulating scenarios for earthquake, flood, tsunami and landslide.
Bautista said that when the Manila trench, some 100 kilometers off Bolinao, Pangasinan, moves at a magnitude of 8, it may possibly generate a seven-meter high tsunami which is as high as a two-story building and when that is felt, the people have only 15 minutes to run to a higher building with a height of three to four floors.
Based on the REDAS, the whole Dagupan City is actually totally affected by liquefaction and experiences a one- meter high flood during the rainy season.
But she said the risks can be minimized if the higher buildings opt to have a piling foundation and for everyone to adhere to the building code in erecting buildings in order to avoid destruction of life and property.
“To avoid loss of life and property, it is important that we inculcate in the minds of everyone especially the youth of these possibilities, thus the need for preparations that is science-based,” said Bautista. (CI0)
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