Steps to stop looting, chemical leak now part of quake drill

In this June 23, 2016 file photo, a girl and a woman enact a scene of a child and a mother injured in an earthquake during a drill organized by government. (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/ NIÑO JESUS ORBETA)

MANILA — Amid heavy rains, thousands joined the national earthquake drill Wednesday, as disaster responders simulated a strong earthquake hitting parts of the Southern Tagalog and Bicol regions.

In Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), apart from the duck, cover and hold drills, Vicente Tomazar, chief of the regional disaster risk reduction and management council, said they simulated situations where looting could take place during a disaster.

“Law enforcers were trained to be on standby against looters,” Tomazar said.

He said they also simulated a situation of leakage of toxic or hazardous chemicals.

Tomazar said at least 1,900 participants, mostly students and homeowners, joined the drill in Laguna province.

The residential and commercial complex Southwoods City in Biñan City in Laguna was chosen as the ceremonial venue for the nationwide drill.

In Bicol, the town of Pamplona in Camarines Sur province became the pilot area for the earthquake drill in the region on Wednesday.

Bernardo Rafael Alejandro, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and the Bicol Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (RDRRMO) chief, said the drill started at 9 a.m.  in 107 towns and seven cities in Bicol.

He said the drill, set for this year’s third quarter, was aimed at perfecting the basic duck, cover and hold model and increasing public awareness of this concept.

“The simultaneous drill in Bicol has achieved its objective, as disaster responders were able to impress evaluators that they swiftly responded during a high magnitude earthquake scenario,” Alejandro said.

“The outcome of the exercise indicates that Bicol is now prepared for the ‘Big One,’” he said.

According to Alex Baloloy, science research specialist of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) in the region, Bicol is vulnerable to both offshore and inland quakes.

He said the Bicol peninsula sat between two earthquake zones — the Philippine Trench in the Pacific area and the Philippine Fault, which stretched from Luzon to Mindanao.

Baloloy said an offshore quake of magnitude 7 to 9 could trigger a tsunami that could hit the region’s eastern coastline covering towns in the provinces of Albay, Catanduanes, Sorsogon and the Camarines provinces.

Mark Miraballes, senior geologist of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in the region, said strong inland earthquakes could hit all Bicol provinces because these were near the Philippine Fault.

A magnitude 6 to 9 earthquake could trigger strong ground shaking, landslides and flooding, MGB said.  SFM