After Magnitude 6.9 quake, preparedness efforts intensified

CEBU, Philippines - The Mandaue City and Lapu-Lapu City governments saw the earthquake the other day as a concrete sign to heighten disaster preparedness in the two cities, especially at the barangay level.

Following a meeting of the city’s Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council, Lapu-Lapu Mayor Paz Radaza ordered the City Council to initiate the conduct of trainings from the top down to the barangay level. She said it is important for the public not to panic in critical situations because panicking can bring more harm.

Radaza also instructed barangay officials to start educating their constituents on the importance of staying calm during calamities and to identify possible evacuation areas.

Keeping focus is important during calamities such as an earthquake, explained Robinson Jorgio of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), because a tsunami may occur just about three to five minutes following an earthquake.

Radaza agreed that the three-minute window is crucial, thus, the public should be made aware of this scenario as early as now.

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the City’s Risk Reduction Council will conduct the training jointly starting next week, Radaza said.

On the part of Mandaue, City Administrator James Abadia said the city government has already ordered the Accident Control and Emergency Rescue Team (ACERT), Office of the Building Officials (OBO) and the City Engineering Office to inspect all school buildings in the city.

Abadia said the inspection was intended primarily for the safety of schoolchildren, but the city would also like to see which buildings can be converted into immediately evacuation centers during calamities.

Inspectors also found cracks inside the accounting office and at the back of the City Hall. No casualty or injury was reported in Mandaue City.

Meanwhile, during the meeting of the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council in Lapu-Lapu City, Jorgio apologized for the effect of the tsunami warning Phivolcs issued immediately after the earthquake.

The alert has caused panic among Cebuanos especially after false reports of seawater coming inland spread like wildfire.

Jorgio said it is Stand Operating Procedure (SOP) for them to issue a tsunami alert, especially that the earthquake the other day reached a magnitude of 6.8. The earthquake jolted Negros and Cebu island and other parts of the Visayas.

Classes were suspended in elementary and high schools in Cebu yesterday to give way to inspection of school buildings. - THE FREEMAN