Strong quake may hit Sorsogon, govt

volcanologist warns

Sorsogon City- Sorsogon officials would do well to prepare some contingency measures
should a strong earthquake hit the province in the near future.
This piece of advise was aired by a senior government volcanologist as government officials in
Metro Manila scrambled to come up with plans in case a big one hit their area.
Eduardo Laguerta, senior resident volcanologist of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and
Seismology (PHIVOLCS) based in Albay, said the unnamed fault line here in Sorsogon City may
now be ripe and could move anytime after more than half a century of hiatus.
There is a fault line there in Sorsogon and it moved sometime in 1954 which triggered a strong
earthquake, Laguerta said in an exclusive interview with Bicol News.

Laguerta was referring to the Intensity 7 earthquake that struck at around 10:45 in the morning of
July 2, 1954 and whose epicenter was located somewhere between the then towns of Sorsogon
and Bacon.
Based on the report of the Commission on Volcanology, forerunner of the PHIVOLCS, the quake
was so strong that it was felt as far as Iloilo down south and Camarines Norte up north. It was the
strongest earthquake that have hit Bicol Region so far.
The epicenter of the earthquake has been located at 380 kilometers southeast of Manila and in
the immediate vicinity of the towns of Sorsogon and Bacon, said the report filed by Arturo
Alcaraz, then head of the Commission on Volcanology, and Wellington Minoza, assistant
geophysicist of the Weather Bureau who was sent here by Malacanang to look into the situation.
Casualties and damages
A total of thirteen persons were killed either by falling debris or pinned under heavy household
furniture, eight of whom were from Sorsogon, four from Bacon and one laborer from Legazpi
City who fell from the scaffolding he was working on, Alcarazs report stated.
About 101 injured individuals were treated at the old Sorsogon Provincial Hospital, seven of
whom were in serious condition while another four were brought to Metro Manila for further
medical treatment.
The report added that various structures were also damaged including the belfries of the church
in Bacon and Sorsogon which collapsed while a Spanish-era bridge between the two towns was
fractured in the middle and needed reconstruction.
Cause
According to Alcaraz the cause of the earthquake was tectonic and brought about by sudden
dislocation of the Earths crust along a plane of fracture that approximates the line joining the
towns of Bacon and Sorsogon.
This conclusion was drawn by the volcanologist from the facts that the earthquake was felt over
a large area and that earthquakes of volcanic origin are perceptible only in the vicinity of the
volcano.
Present day
Laguerta said that since it had been more than half a century ago, the fault line, which remained
unnamed, might again move and might trigger an earthquake of similar intensity.

He advised local building officials to ensure that buildings being constructed follow the
requirements and that they have the necessary emergency exits.
Sorsogon is sandwiched between the Philippine Fault near Masbate province and the Philippine
Trench along the Pacific Ocean which are both earthquake generators.
Early this year, PHIVOLCS Director Renato Solidum had warned that a Magnitude 8 earthquake
may strike Bicol Region due to the regions proximity to the Philippine Trench which is active
and can trigger a quake of up to magnitude 8 in the future.
Just over a week ago, a 4.2 magnitude temblor was reported by PHIVOLCS whose epicenter was
traced 39 kms northeast of Prieto-Diaz and was felt at Intensity 3. (bicolnews.com.ph)