Phivolcs sends 2 teams to study quakes in DavOro

A RESEARCH specialist of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) in Davao Region revealed that two teams will be deployed by the institute on March 10 to determine local faults and the implication of the volcanic activity to the earthquake.

Eduardo Lauron, research specialist of the Phivolcs-Davao bared that two teams will be positioned in Davao de Oro, one will install an instrument to investigate the local earthquakes within the province, while another team from the volcano division will investigate Mt. Leonard Kniaseff by setting up instruments to determine volcanic quakes around the volcano.

He said that for now, they could hardly detect the source of the aftershocks.

Lauron said based on the study of Dr. Jeffrey Perez of Phivolcs in the area, they never saw actual set up of ground fissuring.

“As of 8:00 am today, we plotted 138 aftershocks for the series of earthquakes that happens in Davao de Oro. Most of the barangays there are fed with these aftershocks. Davao de Oro is part of the Philippine Fault segment which has many faults. But we could hardly identify which fault is moving,” he said.

However, Lauron clarified that the quakes are tectonic in origin.

The Office of Civil Defense-Davao (OCD-Davao) reported that as of today, a total of P42 million worth of properties was damaged basically coming from Davao de Oro, Davao del Norte and some schools from Davao City.

The OCD-Davao said there was zero casualty, despite the strong earthquake.

Food and non-food goods given to the victims who are displaced due to the aftershocks stand at P5 million. (PIA-DAVAO)