MANILA, Philippines - As part of preparations for a situation where a strong earthquake strikes the metropolis, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) unveiled a plan to form so-called earthquake-control bayanihan zone alliances.
“The game plan of the earthquake bayanihan zone alliance is the same as the flood-control bayanihan zone alliance whose programs have been fine-tuned by the agency during flooding situations,” MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said on Thursday.
He told reporters the set-up is similar to the formation last year of the flood-control bayanihan zones, community-based alliances that address flooding and other disasters in a given area.
In a related development, Tolentino said they will reactivate the “Oplan Metro Yakal” on Sunday, February 12. Here, agency personnel along with those from local government units (LGU), the communities, private sector and non-government organizations, will update their earthquake drill preparedness.
Oplan Metro Yakal is the agency’s overall readiness plan for responding to earthquakes and other calamities in the metropolis. Prior to the drill, participants will gather at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila for a briefing, after which they will be deployed to four sites in the metropolis to simulate their response after a major earthquake takes place.
The four sites identified under Oplan Metro Yakal as assembly areas and evacuation sites for victims are the Wack-wack Golf Club in the east, Intramuros Golf Club in the west, Villamor Airbase in the south, and the Veterans Golf Club in the north. The reclamation area along Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard in Pasay City was also designated as a “temporary mass burial site” for disaster fatalities.
The Oplan was unveiled last year also at the Quirino Grandstand. Here, MMDA personnel showcased their rescue equipment and first-aid tools and key items they will need to rescue people trapped in a collapsed building, as well as specially-designed suits used by emergency personnel in case chemical accidents take place.
Some 145 items of heavy equipment for flood control and clearing operations such as trucks, cranes and container vans carrying smaller equipment were also brought in order to showcase the MMDA’s capabilities.
Some 3, 500 agency personnel attended the event where they were briefed and trained on how to respond to disasters. Earlier, the MMDA said it will beef up its rescue and emergency equipment to augment those already pre-positioned in critical areas in and around the metropolis.
“We will boost the number of container vans containing powerful emergency and rescue equipment like hydraulic tools for cutting and digging through debris as well as fire-fighting equipment which are already pre-positioned in several barangays in Metro Manila,” the MMDA chief said.
The MMDA has deployed 22 such vans loaded with rescue and first-aid equipment needed for search and rescue operations in high-risk areas in Manila, Pasig, Quezon City and Marikina as part of the agency’s contingency plan dubbed “Oplan Metro Yakal” in case an earthquake similar to the one that struck Japan in March 2011 happens here.
The contingency plan of the MMDA was prepared based on studies and recommendations of experts from Japan, Tolentino added. Besides these, Tolentino said the MMDA trained some 18, 000 volunteers including community leaders and homeowners in Metro Manila on disaster awareness and response.
Earthquake damage scenario
A 2004 study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), MMDA and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) showed that Metro Manila is vulnerable to powerful earthquakes. Dubbed the Metro Manila Earthquake Impact reduction Study (MMEIRS), the study showed a 7.2 magnitude quake would result in 34,000 people killed instantly; 110,000 injured; 13 percent of 170,000 residential buildings heavily damaged or collapsed rendering 1.2 million people homeless; around 25 percent of critical public facilities like hospitals and schools moderately damaged; and 500 fire breakouts.
The study also said 4,000 water supply points would be cut immediately with damage to reservoirs and water purification plants causing major long-term water shortages; 30 kilometers of electricity cables cut with drastic power failure across the city for several weeks if not longer and 100 kilometers of telecommunications cables cut with services suspended for several weeks if not longer.
Metro Manila is crisscrossed by major fault lines, one of which, the West Valley fault line, is one of three cutting across the metropolis. The other two are the Manila Bay and Manila Trench fault lines. The last big earthquake that hit Metro Manila and the rest of central and northern Luzon in July 1990 killed 1,700 people and damaged billions of pesos in property.
PHIVOLCS maps show that 27 subdivisions, at least five major roads and 34 barangays in Metro Manila are covered by the west valley fault line. The agency thus recommended that structures within 70-90 kms of the fault not be allowed.
Experts said that, following the usual cycle of earth movements, the next movement on this faultline may be soon. Per their studies, a strong earthquake along this faultline happens every 200-400 years. Experts estimated that the last movement happened between the 1600s and 1800s.
source: interaksyon.com
