No major fault line in Davao

THE regional office of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) said Davao City is not sitting on a major fault line but it pointed out that the city is still vulnerable to earthquakes due to other fault lines in Davao Region.

MGB Mine Safety, Environment and Social Development Division Officer-in-Charge Noel Angelo Thursday, February 16, said despite the absence of earthquake generating fault lines, the vibration of the earthquake in nearest fault line will be still be felt by Davao City.

“There is no earthquake generating fault line but we have the Philippine Fault zone in Mati City and also the Mindanao fault in Compostela Valley,” Angelo said, adding that the magnitude of the source will be multiplied by a factor to calculate the expected effect.

He said if the epicenter is strong, stronger vibrations will also be felt by nearby areas.

“The 6.7 earthquake in Surigao has a depth of 10 kilometers, so kung 60 kilometers or 100 kilometers ang depth, possibly mahina na sa Davao (if the depth is at 60 kilometers or 100 kilometers, it is possible that its weak in Davao),” he said.

He also said the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology is continuously monitoring identified faults.

He added mining is not the cause of these earthquakes.

Angelo said they also conduct information education campaign in geohazard areas in Davao Region.

He, however, said among the challenges they face is that some don’t believe that they need to evacuate from a geohazard location.

“Some would say wala paman nahitabo na diri sukad o diri naman mi gipanganak (Some would say it did not happen in their area or that they have been born here),” he shared.

Meanwhile, Davao City Engineering Office's Engineer Anjeon Jumamoy said they are inspecting high rise buildings within the city as well as schools and institutions for their business permit compliance.

Jumamoy said they check the stability of the building and verify information assessed by private civil engineers. She said they approve the buildings that follow the design.

She added despite how stable the buildings are, a strong earthquake like a magnitude 6.7 will cause cracks in buildings.

“We just pray that earthquakes with that intensity will not happen here in Davao,” Jumamoy said.

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