NORTH Cotabato was rocked by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Wednesday at 7:37 p.m. The quake was felt in neighboring towns, cities, and municipalities.

In Davao City, Dabawenyos felt an intensity 5 earthquake according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology's (Phivolcs) Earthquake Information 3.

While the earthquake caused damages in areas near the epicenter, another disaster occurred near coastal areas of Davao City.

Many people living in the city's coastal areas were thrown into panic and confusion after someone started spreading unverified information that a tsunami may be on its way.

Due to misinformation, 16 coastal barangays conducted evacuation to higher grounds. These barangays are Matina Aplaya, Matina Crossing, Matina Pangi, Talomo Proper, Binugao, Sirawan, Lizada, Daliao, Toril Proper, Crossingaayabas, Lubugan, Bucana, 21-C, 22-C, Dumoy, and Bago Aplaya.

This caused traffic in some parts of the city as people living near the coast started to vacate their areas and move to higher places of the city.

To stop the confusion and calm the people down, the Davao City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) posted on its Facebook Page that the news about a tsunami is not true.

"There is no tsunami warning issued. The earthquake's origin is located at Tulunan, North Cotabato," CDRRMO said.

The Office of the Civil Defense in Davao Region (OCD 11) also posted on its Facebook page information on the earthquake and this: "Walang Tsunami Alert considering nasa lupa ang epicenter (There is no tsunami alert since the epicenter is on land)."

According to Phivolcs, "a tsunami is a series of sea waves commonly generated by under-the-sea earthquakes and whose heights could be greater than 5 meters... Tsunamis can occur when the earthquake is shallow-seated and strong enough to displace parts of the seabed and disturb the mass of water over it."

It is amusing and frustrating to note that despite the assurance of the government agencies, there were still people who questioned the official information.

There are times when we should question some information coming from the government. However, when it comes to disasters, we are quite assured that the government is being honest and transparent.

People were quick to share unverified inforEditorial: Fake news causes panic

mation but when it came from the officials, they casted their doubts on this. Sadly this is the effect of misinformation when the real information surfaces after it.

It is good to note that the CDRRMO is not taking misinformation lightly. Yesterday the agency filed complaints against persons who were spreading fake news on the tsunami. It also called on individuals to report those who are spreading false information.

During disasters it is best that we tune up our radios or visit the official social media accounts of concerned government agencies instead of listening to unverified information from questionable sources. Should we get information claiming to be sourced from this or that, be sure to double check it with concerned government agencies.

Information spreads fast these days with social media. This also means that we as netizens must be responsible on the information that we share. During disasters we can help calm people down by sharing verified information. Let us inform people properly and not cause unnecessary panic. We can be alert but let us not spread false information.