A MAGNITUDE 6.3 earthquake rocked Luzon, including Metro Manila, Friday at 1:28 p.m., causing buildings in the metropolis to sway and suspension of classes in some schools in the National Capital Region.
With a depth of 177 kilometers, Jay Gallardo from the Philippine Volcanology and Seismology Institute’s seismological earthquake monitoring division told the Manila Standard huge aftershocks were unlikely, adding “the area movement of the quake was too deep.”
This was unlike the magnitude 5.5 quake that hit Tingloy, Batangas last April 4, which had “a depth of seven kms.”
Aftershocks of magnitudes 4.4 and 4.9 were recorded from the tremor, whoise epicenter was in Nasugbu, Batangas, south of Manila.
The Tingloy tremor jolted parts of Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Quezon, Pampanga, Camarines Norte and the National Capital Region’s Quezon City, Pasig City, Las Piñas City, Taguig City, Pasay City, Malabon City, Marikina City and Muntinlupa City.
Phivolcs gave assurances there would be “no destructive tsunami threat based on available data.”
Meanwhile, grid operator National Grid Corp. of the Philippines on Friday said its power transmission services remained normal despite the earthquake.
“The grid remains intact as there had been no reported cases of power interruptions,” National Grid, operator of the country’s transmission network said.
National Grid was assessing Friday afternoon if there were damaged transmission facilities in Metro Manila and surrounding areas.
At the same time, classes in some schools in the National Capital Region were suspended, according to the Metro Manila Development Authority.
First to declare no classes in all levels in both private and public schools was the Taguig City government.
“Following the 6.3-magnitude earthquake that rocked parts of Luzon this afternoon, classes in all levels (both public and private) in Taguig City are are suspended as of 2:30 p.m. today for safety reasons and as advised by the Taguig City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office,” said city’s Public Information Office stated in its advisory.
“This will also allow concerned authorities to conduct the requisite inspections to check the safety and structural integrity of all school buildings in the city as well as to check extent of damage, if any,” it added.
The city and municipal governments of Pasay and Pateros, respectively, also declared the cancellation of classes around 3 p.m.
Classes were also suspended at the De La Salle University campuses in cities of Manila and Makati, and in Bonifacio Global City; Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, Philippine Women’s University Manila, Far Eastern University Manila and Makati campuses, Manila Tytana Colleges and Lyceum of the Philippines University in Batangas.
The local governments of Dasmarinas in Cavite, Olongapo City and some private schools in Laguna also declared no classes in the afternoon.
MMDA employees, meanwhile, vacated the agency’s main building in Makati City minutes after the tremor.
“When the earthquake was felt, it was an SOP (standard operating procedure) to evacuate the building’s floors and then right now employees are outside at an open area, right now the engineers are checking floor by floor of the building because as you all know this is an old building,” said Michael Salalima, MMDA Office of the Chairman deputy chief of staff and spokesperson.
Salalima said the MMDA employees observed the drop, cover and hold scheme they practiced during earthquake drills.
“Yes, we practiced it. They immediately evacuated and the sectoring by floor and the floor leader ensured that all employees are all accounted for. Meaning, all of the floors have designated focal persons that will ensure the fitness of all employees,” he said.
The government reminded the people of the “drop, cover and hold,” concept or action that the public must do when a big quake strikes.
Phivolcs director Renato Solidum said the people must cover their heads and necks using their arms and get under desks and other shelters that are sturdy.
He advised the people to either hold on to their shelter or continue covering their heads and necks until the shaking stops.
“The importance of surviving the earthquake is for us to allocate our resources even better. If you survived you don’t need our help anymore, then we will find others who are in need of our assistance,” Solidum said.
Solidum said with an Intensity 8 earthquake, the scenarios of fire incidents, collapsed structures and hazardous traffic incidents would occur.
“You will not be able to move during such strong quake,” said Solidum, whose office earlier made a warning that a massive quake would occur if the Valley Fault System moves.
He cautioned against entering buildings where earthquakes just struck, saying these structures may eventually collapse during the tremors’ aftershocks.
The MMDA also created Oplan Metro Yakal Plus, the MMDA’s disaster contingency plan drawn up for the regional disaster response.
Under the Metro Yakal Plus, the MMDA is responsible for command and control and search and rescue operations if the Big One jolts Metro Manila.
An intensity 4 quake jolted Batangas’ Nasugbu, Calatagan and Balayan; Occidental Mindoro’s Calapan, Sablayan and Mamburao; the metro’s Manila, Parañaque, Pasig, Taguig and Pasay City; Cavite’s Rosario, Maragondon, Noveleta and Dasmariñas City; Pampanga’s Floridablanca; Olongapo City, and Zambales’ Subic and Iba.
An intensity 3 was felt in Oriental Mindoro’s Puerto Galera; Occidental Mindoro’s San Jose; Cavite’s Tagaytay City, Indang and Alfonso; Laguna’s Canlubang; Bulacan’s Bocaue, Malolos, Obando and Balagtas; Pampanga’s Dau; Pangasinan’s Dagupan City and Lingayen; Bataan’s Bagac; Baguio City; the metro’s Pateros, Quezon City, Makati, San Juan and Marikina City, and Rizal’s Cainta and San Mateo.
Laguna’s Sta. Rosa, Marinduque’s Gasan, Pampanga’s Magalang and Sto. Tomas and Batangas’ Tanauan City had an intensity 2, while Batangas’ Talisay, Nueva Ecija’s Pantabangan, Bulacan’s Meycauayan and Benguet’s Atok experienced an intensity 1.
