Phivolcs launches info drive on quakes, tsunamis

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has launched a massive grassroots campaign that will inform the public about the basic nature of earthquakes and tsunamis to help save lives, especially in high-risk areas.

Phivolcs director Renato Solidum said they have involved local communities, particularly barangay officials, teachers and students, in their earthquake and tsunami awareness campaign.

Solidum said the agency continues to provide information materials to rural areas, particularly areas that are susceptible to tsunamis.

“We developed visual aids that can be used anywhere, not only in schools but even in barangay halls in most far-flung areas. People can immediately learn from the colorful vivid illustrations about what to do during an earthquake,” Solidum said in a press briefing.

In 2010, the Philippines, along with Indonesia, Thailand, and Timor Leste, embarked on a project dubbed “Tsunami Awareness and Preparedness Tools and Materials Assessment Project.”

The one-year project, which received roughly P3 million funding from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), allows each collaborating country to exchange and adapt already produced material from another collaborating partner.

The adaptation also involved translation of these materials into the local languages such as Ilocano, Bicolano, Maguindanaoan, Cebuano and Ilonggo.

“We’ve been doing this (tsunami information campaign) for a long time,” Solidum said.

However, he said less than 50 percent of the population has adapted community preparedness.

Solidum said that under the project, Phivolcs has printed a total of 18,000 copies of educational materials.

Meanwhile, Solidum said the agency will put up 85 additional seismic stations nationwide in the next five years in a bid to improve earthquake monitoring in the country.

To date, the Philippines has 66 seismic stations, he said.

Aside from the seismic stations, a total of 100 earthquake intensity meters will also be established across the country, Solidum said.

Located along the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Philippines is vulnerable to frequent typhoons and is susceptible to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

On Aug. 16, 1976, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake hit the Moro Gulf in Mindanao, triggering tsunamis up to eight meters that killed at least 5,000 people.