MANILA, Philippines (PNA) – The Marikina West Valley fault line, one of the active faults in the country, can cause a 7.2 magnitude earthquake at its full movement, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) Director Renato Solidum said on Tuesday. Solidum clarified, however, that such magnitude of the fault’s tremor occurs only when it reaches its full capacity.
“It may also cause a tremor at the magnitude of just four or five,” he said at The Forum of the Catholic Media Network (CMN) and the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) News at the Ilustrado Restaurant in Intramuros, Manila Tuesday morning.
At the same time, Solidum allayed fears that a tsunami of the same magnitude as the one that occurred in Japan would happen in the country because the earthquake’s magnitude here is not as much as the Japanese earthquake that was already certified by international seismologists as having reached magnitude 9.
He said that "our top concern now is on how much we are prepared. Everyone must do what he has to do to be ready for any earthquake phenomenon, like conducting earthquake drill in schools, malls, churches and other establishments.”
He explained that lower buildings are likely to be swayed stronger than high-rise buildings because the shaking is quick and short.
The seismology expert illustrated this by shaking a small piece of plastic with three vertical figures -- short, medium and tall. When swayed fast, the short one shook stronger but when the sway was slow and gradual the taller figure shook.
Solidum assured everybody that Phivolcs is closely monitoring the Marikina West Valley fault, which protrudes through Muntinlupa and Makati.
Likewise, the agency pays similar attention to the other faults that can trigger strong magnitude earthquake like the Philippine Fault Zone that transects the whole archipelago along a general strike of 30 degrees North to 40 degrees West from northwestern Luzon to southern Mindanao, the Phivolcs head said.
