PMA, MMDA prepare for 200-year quake cycle

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Medical Association  (PMA) and the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will work together to prepare for a strong earthquake experts believe happens every 200 years, an official said yesterday.

According to PMA president Dr. Leo Olarte, the group will mobilize all of its members and volunteers in Metro Manila and Luzon to help in MMDA’s Oplan Metro Yakal.

“We have learned from MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino some disturbing facts about dreadful scenarios that can happen to us all in the metropolis in case a powerful earthquake strikes Metro Manila and because of this we are bent in doing concrete measures to help minimize enormous human casualties resulting from such a calamity,” he said.

In its Oplan Metro Yakal, the MMDA identified four possible evacuation sites and a temporary mass burial grounds for fatalities following an earthquake of magnitude seven or higher. 

“A once-in-200-years earthquake that will hit the Philippines can wipe out 20 percent of Metro Manila. Under the Metro Manila Earthquake Impact Reduction Study a 7.2-magnitude quake will separate Metro Manila into four regions due to the collapse of buildings, destruction of elevated highways and bridges,” Olarte noted.

Under the plan, the evacuation sites are the Veterans Golf Course in Quezon City, the Villamor Golf Course in Pasay City, the Wack Wack Golf Course in Mandaluyong City and the Intramuros Golf Course.

The reclamation area along Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard in Pasay City will be designated as a temporary mass burial site.

It had also been projected that such a quake will make roads impassable as fires break out at the same time.

Olarte said the quake can “leave 25 percent of Metro Manila’s vital facilities such as schools, hospitals and government centers damaged.”

He said the PMA and MMDA want to be prepared for such a scenario.

“So far the little-known 200-year earthquake cycle in Metro Manila has already lapsed so this nightmare can happen anytime. We need to prepare now and be ready for the worst scenario. That is why we are partnering with MMDA,” he added.