Historically, the Philippines as one of the countries in the Pacific ring of fire remains to be at loss when it comes to responding to earthquakes. The Philippines continues to suffer unimaginable loss of thousands of lives and billions of properties due to earthquake.
On July 16, 1990 a catastrophic earthquake of 7.7 magnitude with epicenter near Rizal hit Luzon, causing 1, 666 casualties and extensive damage. The death and devastation induced by the tremors were accompanied by the collapse of buildings and infrastructure facilities. From July 1990 to October 1991, the damage caused by the quake, volcanic eruption and rains had been estimated at several billion US dollars. On October 15, 2013, an earthquake with 7.2 Magnitude struck the island provinces in the Visayas region. 222 were found dead and 976 were injured. More than 73,000 structures were affected with 14,500 of them totally ruined. It was the deadliest earthquake after 23 years when a similar magnitude hit Cabanatuan in 1990.
As of December 31, 2013, the Philippines has experienced two (2) earthquakes that day, five (5) earthquakes in the past seven days, 16 earthquakes in the past month and 142 earthquakes for the year 2013. Given that the Philippines has that much seismic activity, it would have seem that the country is prepared for the worst that is to come as brought about by the active seismic activity in which the archipelago is located.
Although no technology has been created yet to predict earthquakes, seismologist Richard Allen said in a National Geographic article that an earthquake early warning system may provide the public with crucial seconds to prepare for severe shaking and save their lives.
This earthquake warning device records peak ground acceleration (PGA), velocity (PGV), ground displacement (PGD) and spectral intensity (SI) and emit warning signal when the earthquake ground motion is so strong.
Cebu businesses, manufacturers, and building owners are set to acquire the earthquake monitoring system (i.e. S200 and S401-PSCR) manufactured by MESEI of Japan. The companies were convinced of the effectiveness and efficacy of seismic equipment when it recorded all of the earthquake events in December 2013.
On July 16, 1990 a catastrophic earthquake of 7.7 magnitude with epicenter near Rizal hit Luzon, causing 1, 666 casualties and extensive damage. The death and devastation induced by the tremors were accompanied by the collapse of buildings and infrastructure facilities. From July 1990 to October 1991, the damage caused by the quake, volcanic eruption and rains had been estimated at several billion US dollars. On October 15, 2013, an earthquake with 7.2 Magnitude struck the island provinces in the Visayas region. 222 were found dead and 976 were injured. More than 73,000 structures were affected with 14,500 of them totally ruined. It was the deadliest earthquake after 23 years when a similar magnitude hit Cabanatuan in 1990.
Figure 1 - Hyatt Hotel before the earthquake in 1990
Figure 2 - Hyatt Hotel after the earthquake in 1990
Although no technology has been created yet to predict earthquakes, seismologist Richard Allen said in a National Geographic article that an earthquake early warning system may provide the public with crucial seconds to prepare for severe shaking and save their lives.
This earthquake warning device records peak ground acceleration (PGA), velocity (PGV), ground displacement (PGD) and spectral intensity (SI) and emit warning signal when the earthquake ground motion is so strong.
Cebu businesses, manufacturers, and building owners are set to acquire the earthquake monitoring system (i.e. S200 and S401-PSCR) manufactured by MESEI of Japan. The companies were convinced of the effectiveness and efficacy of seismic equipment when it recorded all of the earthquake events in December 2013.
