PhiVolcs to prepare Dagupan for earthquake, tsunami
REPRESENTATIVES of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PhiVolcs) are set to arrive in Dagupan sometime this January to conduct a seminar for barangay captains to prepare them how to save their constituents in case a high-magnitude earthquake strikes Pangasinan’s offshore and inland areas and subsequent possible tsunami that follows.
Mayor Belen Fernandez invited PhiVolcs representatives to the city to help prepare if the Manila Trench, an earthquake fault some 100 kilometers west of Bolinao, moves and generates tsunami as high as seven meters.
There are speculations that the powerful earthquake that recently hit southwestern Japan and destroyed many infrastructures, including buildings and residential houses, may have triggered the Manila Trench to move.
Just a few days ago, a magnitude 4 earthquake was recorded off Vigan City.
Aside from informing barangay captains on what to do during a high-magnitude earthquake, Fernandez already ordered the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) as well as the Public Alert Response and Monitoring Center (PARMC) to step up its implementation of Privately-hosted Evacuation Centers (PHEC) program.
PHEC is a program initiated by Fernandez during her previous terms that enlists the support of high-rise buildings from three stories and up to allow their neighbors to seek shelter in their buildings when tsunami strikes.
Fernandez directed the two offices to prepare a list of new tall buildings in the city whose owners can be asked to sign a memorandum of agreement with the city government so that residents within in their vicinities fleeing from the tsunami can be temporarily accommodated.
According to Fernandez, the PHEC—one of the best practices of Dagupan—was already benchmarked by some member agencies of the League of Cities of the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Meliquin Bauzon, OIC of PARMC, also warned of the potential danger of two earthquake faults near Dagupan —the San Manuel Fault near the vicinity of the San Roque Dam as well as the San Manuel Fault near Infanta town. (Leonardo Micua)
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