THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has ordered the evacuation of residents from coastal areas following the tsunami warning issued by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
The DILG urged local government units to lead the evacuation of communities near the shorelines of the following provinces:
*Batanes Group of Islands
*Cagayan
*Isabela
*Aurora
*Quezon
*Camarines Norte
*Camarines Sur
*Albay
*Sorsogon
*Catanduanes
*Northern Samar
*Eastern Samar
*Leyte
*Southern Leyte
*Dinagat Islands
*Surigao del Norte
*Surigao del Sur
*Davao del Norte
*Davao Oriental
*Davap Occidental
*Davao del Sur
*Davao de Oro
The DILG also directed LGUs to implement critical preparedness measures, activate emergency operations centers and incident management teams, immediately establish evacuation routes, directional signs, and safe zones for communities at risk, and to coordinate closely with regional and provincial disaster risk reduction and management offices, Phivolcs, and other relevant agencies for technical support, risk assessments, and public awareness campaigns.
Phivolcs earlier said coastal areas in the Philippines facing the Pacific Ocean may experience tsunami waves less than 1 meter high following the 8.7-magnitude earthquake that struck Kamchatka, Russia.
The first tsunami waves are expected between 1:20 p.m. and 2:40 p.m. and may continue for several hours. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)