NABUNTURAN, Davao de Oro -- A geologist from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) disclosed during a virtual press conference that the faults in Davao de Oro are capable of generating 6.6 up to 7.1 magnitude earthquakes.
Geologist Jeffrey Perez said that the segment faults in Davao de Oro are part of the Philippine Fault, which stretches around 1,200 kilometers starting from the Ilocos Region.
“Yong (6.0 magnitude) earthquake na nangyari last February 1 was generated by the Philippine Fault,” Perez said.
The Philippine fault has four segments in the province, namely, West Compostela Valley with a length of 55 kilometers, 60-kilometer Central Compostela Valley, 20-kilometer East Compostela Valley, and 25-kilometer Nabunturan segment fault.
“Ang tatandaan natin is the longer the fault, the higher the magnitude it can generate,” he said.
Based on historical data, the West Compostela Valley segment generated a 7.3 magnitude earthquake in 1891 or dubbed then as the Davao earthquake; while the Central Compostela Valley segment generated a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, which was named then as the Monkayo earthquake.
With these developments, Perez called on the residents of Davao de Oro to always be prepared; since there are many sources of earthquakes in the province and there are still no instruments to predict their occurrence.
“Kailangan maging aware ‘yong mga tao kung sakaling magkaroon ulit ng mga lindol dito sa area niyo,” he said.
According to the report of the Provincial Disaster Reduction and Management Office, as of February 7, 2023, the 6.0 magnitude earthquake with epicenter in Compostela town has wrecked 11 houses, partially destroyed 459 houses, and damaged 988 government centers and infrastructures worth a total of PhP 79.08 million. PIA-DAVAO