Ground fissures in Sarangani not due to quakes

GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Government volcanologists have discounted the possibility that ground fissures that hit a barangay in Glan, Sarangani were due to volcanic activities or earthquakes.

In a statement, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said there is no "volcanic center" in Glan which "is underlain mostly by limestone and other marine sedimentary rocks."

Also, Phivolcs also ruled the possibility that the magnitude 4.1 earthquake that shook Surigao last Aug. 20 had something to do with the ground fissures in Barangay Baliton.

Based on data it had gathered, Phivolcs said the phenomenon was a "landslide probably caused by excessive rainfall."

While landslides are area-specific hazards, the institute said the cause of the fissures needs to be investigated.

Meanwhile, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) has recommended the relocation of families in Baliton.

Minda Morante, acting regional officer of the OCD, said the families who were brought to safer grounds were also advised not to go back to their damaged farms.

"The provincial road in the affected areas is no longer passable and needs to be rehabilitated. Since their houses were totally destroyed by the landslide, our government should provide them permanent relocation," she said.

Morante said nine barangays in Glan have been isolated after a portion of a half-kilometer road sank to a depth of five meters and sustained cracks about 30.5 centimeters wide. — John Paul Jubelag, Felix de los Santos