Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte on Wednesday urged city residents to prepare their own households for the eventuality of an earthquake after two strong quakes hit Luzon and Eastern Visayas on consecutive days.
“Earthquakes could possibly occur anytime and unfortunately, there is no technology yet that could predict when it will strike. It’s better that we start educating ourselves now so that we could prepare ourselves and our communities for disasters like this,” Belmonte said.
The Quezon City government through Mayor Herbert Bautista is doing its best in terms of disaster preparedness, while the 37-member city council presided over by Belmonte has been consistent to pass ordinances concerning disaster risk reduction and management, such as mandatory earthquake drills for all establishments.
“Under our ordinance, establishments should conduct earthquake drills twice a year. That’s mandatory and no establishment is exempted. Schools, business establishments, residential areas, markets, places of worship, health care facilities and local government offices are all required to do the drill,” the vice mayor said.
“Quezon City also has a contingency plan for worst-case-scenarios during an earthquake and, since last year, we have already adopted the disaster risk reduction plan in preparation for earthquakes and other disasters,” she added.
“But this, of course, wouldn’t be effective if the people will not educate themselves and prepare ahead. Because during disasters, anything can happen. Although we try our best to respond to emergencies, still, we can’t disregard the fact that there are factors that are out of our control. That’s why we also suggest for families to plan ahead and prepare your own household,” Belmonte said.
She reminded residents to check their homes for possible structural weaknesses, secure heavy appliances or furnishings that could fall and cause accidents, and assign exit paths in the event of a quake.
According to the vice mayor, government buildings in Quezon City were declared safe and structurally sound by the City Disaster Assessment and Needs Analysis Team after being assessed that no visible cracks were detected and that it was able to withstand the intensity 5 earthquake on Monday.