I still remember where I was that afternoon of July 16, 1990, exactly 35 years ago yesterday.
I was on my way to school in JASMS in Quezon City for an activity and the driver had to stop, saying the ground was trembling. And that’s when I felt it – the earth shifting beneath us. I was anxious, stressed and wondered when it would end. What lasted for roughly 45 seconds felt like an eternity.
Now, decades later, I still have what psychologists call a flashbulb memory: a vivid, lasting imprint of a moment forever etched in time.
Only later would I realize the impact of the tragedy that ripped through Luzon.
Baguio, the country’s summer capital, was the hardest hit by that so-called “killer quake.”
The Hyatt Terraces Hotel crumbled. Part of the famed 12-story hotel collapsed onto the lobby area, killing about 50 people, according to the Singapore Civil Defense Force, which dispatched teams to help in the recovery efforts at the time.
Landslides blocked roads leading to the city. Hospitals were in ruins. Thousands were left homeless, and aftershocks fueled even more fear.
For days – weeks even – rescuers were pulling bodies from the rubble.
I think about this tragedy because on Tuesday, an earthquake again struck northern Luzon – this time less severe, at magnitude 5.8. The earthquake struck Ilocos Norte early Tuesday, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
The tremor also shook neighboring provinces such as Ilocos Sur, Isabela and Abra. A family member who is in Sagada felt it, too.
The Pacific Ring of Fire
It’s no secret that the Philippines experiences frequent seismic activity due to its location along the Pacific Ring of Fire.
We may not know it, but many of us live along fault lines – vulnerable to earthquakes, including, dreadfully, the Big One.
Thirty-five years after that 1990 killer quake, I hope we have learned some lessons.
I hope that, despite the deeply entrenched corruption in our society, our local government units (LGUs) aren’t sacrificing proper enforcement of building codes.
Authorities must also make sure that both the public and private sectors are retrofitting vulnerable infrastructure and investing in early warning systems and emergency response equipment.
Earthquake awareness and earthquake drills are a must. Awareness and readiness can save lives.
I dread the day when the so-called “Big One” strikes – but it can happen.
May we learn from past tragedies – the magnitude 7.3 earthquake in Manila in 1968, which led to the collapse of the Ruby Tower in Binondo, killing 200 people.
Phivolcs also said that more than 6,000 people died when a tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.9 earthquake in the Moro Gulf hit in 1976.
The late environment secretary Fulgencio Factoran Jr., in an article posted on the Phivolcs website, gave this reminder in the aftermath of the July 16, 1990 earthquake:
“To have learned nothing from the tragic events of July 16 would be callousness of the highest degree. To have done nothing to develop strategies to prevent injury and damage should another earthquake occur would be irresponsibility of the most serious proportions.
“In the mosaic of collapsed buildings, we must again take note of questions related to siting considerations, risk assessment, structural foundations, architectural and civil engineering designs, buffer zones and safety corridors. These are not mere technicalities – they are matters of life and death.”
Fire in the neighborhood
Speaking of tragedy, a huge fire broke out in our neighboring community in Quezon City last weekend.
Some 20 families – or maybe more – lost their homes in that neighborhood, which was a stone’s throw away from our place. The silver lining is nobody died, but the fire victims lost their homes – a place they’d been living in for decades – and everything inside. Perhaps, for some, their dreams and hopes also vanished with the flames.
In that community, where some homes were built from a hodgepodge of materials, the fire spread so fast, according to our helper.
The fire struck around 4 in the afternoon and was declared fire out past 7 in the evening.
Days after, I could still smell the acrid and smoky stench from the burned community – a harsh mix of burnt wood, charred metal and ash.
I am writing this to thank the brave firefighters and volunteers of the Bureau of Fire Protection, led by the Pasong Tamo Fire Sub-Station, who responded to the cries for help.
Twenty-seven fire trucks responded, according to data from the Pasong Tamo Fire Sub-Station’s on-scene spot report.
Other fire substations and volunteers who showed up came from different parts of Metro Manila, including those from the Knights Fire and Rescue Volunteers, firemen from Barangay UP Campus, a quick response team and Kankaloo Engine – a fire-rescue engine unit operating in Caloocan City – the Sampaloc Fire Station and many more.
This list isn’t complete. It’s just what I read in the on-scene spot report.
Thank you for helping our community. We are immensely grateful.
I am sure there were more who came to help, many other nameless but valiant heroes. I also saw neighbors forming a human chain, passing on pails of water to help douse the fire.
It was bayanihan at work, and it is in times like this that my faith in humanity and in the Filipino spirit is renewed.
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Email: eyesgonzales@gmail.com. Follow her on X @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.