Don’t worry about recent Davao Occidental quakes, says Phivolcs

Photo from Phivolcs

Two magnitude 3.9 earthquakes were recorded at the Celebes Sea, southeast of Sarangani, Davao Occidental on Wednesday morning, but the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has assured residents in the region that there is nothing to worry about.

Phivolcs said the recent movements are merely a part of a routine trench activity.

In a bulletin, Phivolcs said Wednesday’s earthquakes were located 366 and 407 kilometers from Sarangani.  The bulletin added that no aftershocks and no damages are expected, and no tsunami warnings have been raised of now.

“Yes po, nothing to worry about, bale ‘yong mga ganong event activity po normal po sa area po na ‘yon kasi malapit talaga sa trench,” Science Research Assistant Paulo Sawi of the Phivolcs’ Seismology Department said in an exclusive interview with Inquirer.net.
The recent movements in the region were the seventh and eight earthquakes recorded with magnitudes higher than 3.5, in a span of five days.
READ: 2 quakes rock Celebes Sea off Davao Occidental

According to Sawi, Phivolcs cannot confirm if the Wednesday earthquakes were related to movements recorded since the weekend.
“Hindi po natin masabi na hindi related, pwede rin kasi na pareho silang trench-related, pero sa ngayon po nakikita lang namin malalayo po (location) sila,” Sawi added.
On Friday, three earthquakes, including a 5.0 magnitude and a 4.7 magnitude struck 169 kilometers off Sarangani and 123 kilometers off Jose Abad Santos, respectively.  Another 4.4 magnitude earthquake was recorded later that day.

Then, a 5.4 magnitude earthquake hit the shores of Malita, Davao Occidental on Saturday.  Two 5.1 magnitude earthquakes two kilometers southeast of Sarangani were also recorded on Sunday noon. /muf

READ: Magnitude 5.4 quake hits Davao Occidental