MMDA wants ’94 quake study for Metro Manila updated

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is planning to update the Metro Manila Earthquake Impact Reduction Study (MMEIRS), which was conducted in 1994 to allow disaster readiness managers to make adjustments in their preparations.

In an interview with reporters, MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said his staff has already looked into the possibility of coordinating with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which funded the first earthquake survey.

MMEIRS was conducted by JICA in coordination with the MMDA and the Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology. It projected various earthquake scenarios in Metro Manila and mapped out danger zones that the government needed to address.

“The first MMEIRS is already old. We need to upgrade and update the scenario in the study,” Tolentino said at the sidelines of the turnover of tents and power generators and other emergency equipment at the Pateros Municipal Hall. “We are working out the new study with JICA.”

The tents and generators are being distributed by MMDA as part of its disaster preparedness drive in Metro Manila. Tolentino said the equipment could be used as temporary shelters and first-aid stations during emergencies or calamities.