Phivolcs quake detection tools on Mt. Pinatubo stolen
The Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology warns the public against stealing Phivolcs equipment in an advisory posted on Wednesday, August 6, 2025. — Photo from Phivolcs/Facebook
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) on Wednesday confirmed the theft of its earthquake monitoring equipment on the Tarlac side of Mt. Pinatubo, the volcano that gave the world’s second worst eruption in the 20th century.
In a statement on its website, Phivolcs said the agency discovered the theft when Pinatubo Volcano Observatory (PVO) personnel carried out a routine maintenance on Wednesday.
Phivolcs reported that the seismic vault of the San Jose Observation Station (VPSJ) in San Jose town in Tarlac Province, was “forced open and its equipment stolen.”
The stolen items include a state-of-the-art Kinemetrics Q330HRS+ Quanterra digitizer that amounts to P1.144 million, and solar batteries worth P70,000.
“Quanterra digitizers record and convert to usable formats all earthquake signal data that are detected by sensitive seismic sensors connected to these by specialized cables,” the agency explained, adding that the VPSJ “operates a state-of-the-art borehole seismic sensor for critical recording of a wide range of volcanic earthquakes caused by magma intrusion beneath Pinatubo Volcano as well as for detecting tectonic earthquakes for the Philippine Seismic Network.”
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Mt. Pinatubo’s cataclysmic June 15, 1991 eruption was preceded by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that destroyed many parts of northern and central Luzon in July 1990.
Phivolcs said the VPSJ, which was commissioned in February 2022, has “provided crucial data for locating volcano-tectonic earthquakes generated by deep-seated magma beneath the Pinatubo edifice.” The volcano straddles Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales.
It said the VPSJ has also contributed data for the recording and aftershock monitoring of large-magnitude earthquakes that have severely affected northern Luzon since 2022.
According to Philvolcs, the Aug. 6 theft was the third incident for the station. Solar panels were taken in October and December 2024.
It warned that Republic Act 10344 or the Risk Reduction and Preparedness Equipment Protection Act of 2012 penalizes “the unauthorized taking, stealing, keeping or tampering of government risk reduction and preparedness equipment, accessories and similar facilities.”
Phivolcs and its mother agency, the Department of Science and Technology called on local government units and communities in and around Pinatubo volcano to “help keep volcano monitoring facilities safe from such illegal acts so that operational coverage of every sector of the volcano can be sustained for their collective readiness and safety.”
“Any information concerning the above case of theft, as well as all prompt reporting of similar incidents in the future, will be of great importance to our collective safety.” /das
