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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Quake in Leyte causes Visayas-wide blackout
By Ma. Ester L. Espina
A 3.7 earthquake that struck Leyte Wednesday morning caused a haywire in National Transmission Corporation's (Transco) power grid, putting almost all of Visayas in a power blackout.
The Leyte power plants provide a total of 340 megawatts to the Visayas grid, which is connecting the islands of Cebu, Negros and Panay.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanoloy and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the quake's epicenter was located 14 kilometers northeast of Ormoc City in Southern Leyte. The quake was felt at Intensity 3.7 in Tongonan town and Intensity 3 in Ormoc City.
Retired general Glenn Rabonza, executive officer of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), said no one was reported injured or killed in the tectonic temblor.
Rabonza said the quake produced abnormal vibrations that resulted to the automatic shutdown of at least eight power plants of the National Power Corporation and an independent power producer.
The shutdown of the power plants resulted to the power trip off and supply was cut Samar and Leyte Islands in Eastern Visayas, Cebu and Bohol Islands in Central Visayas, and Negros Island in Western Visayas.
Most parts of Negros Occidental remain without power which is expected to last until Thursday, expecting big losses among business establishments and industries.
However, power in major areas of Negros Oriental as well as in Bacolod City has been restored after they were able to secure energy from the Palimpinon geothermal plant operated by the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC).
Presidential Adviser for Western Visayas, Rafael Coscolluela also said that they were informed power in the occidental side of Negros will be restored by Thursday.
He also said that Panay did not suffer much power outage. This is probably due to the power barge operated by PNOC as well.
Transco-Negros as of Wednesday could not determine the extent of the earthquake's damage but said that they are doing everything they can to restore power in most parts of the island.
Quiamco admitted that while there is a possibility they can tap into the Palimpinon plant, it will still not be enough to restore power in the occidental side.
Negros Occidental Governor Joseph Marañon said these are unfortunate incidents, adding that the province would only wish the new geothermal plant being build in Bago City by PNOC would soon be operation.
PNOC expects the 40-megawatt power plant to operate early next year. The governor added that while the province cannot claim sole use of the power line, "we must lobby that Negros Occidental should get that priority in case things like these happen." (With Sunnex)
(May 11, 2006 issue)
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