LESSONS LEARNED FROM

PAST NOTABLE DISASTERS.

THE PHILIPPINES.
PART 1: EARTHQUAKES

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for

Disaster Reduction, Vienna,
Virginia, USA
 NATURAL HAZARDS THAT PLACE THE
PHILIPPINES’ COMMUNITIES AT RISK

EARTHQUAKES
GOAL: DISASTER
RESILIENCE TYPHOONS

ENACT AND IMPLEMENT FLOODS

POLICIES HAVING HIGH
BENEFIT/COST FOR LANDSLIDES
COMMUNITY RESILIENCE
VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

THE PHILIPPINES
SEISMICITY MAP
 EARTHQUAKES

EARTHQUAKES OCCUR FREQUENTLY IN

THE PHILIPPINES AS A RESULT OF
COMPLEX INTERACTIONS OF THE
PHILIPPINE AND EURASIAN PLATES
THE PHILIPPINES PLATE
 CAUSES
OF
DAMAGE

INADEQUATE RESISTANCE TO
HORIZONTAL GROUND SHAKING

SOIL AMPLIFICATION

PERMANENT DISPLACEMENT
(SURFACE FAULTING & GROUND
FAILURE)

IRREGULARITIES IN ELEVATION
EARTHQUAKES AND PLAN

“DISASTER TSUNAMI WAVE RUNUP

LABORATORIES”

POOR DETAILING AND WEAK

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

FRAGILITY OF NON-STRUCTURAL
ELEMENTS
 EARTHQUAKE RISK
ACCEPTABLE RISK
•QUAKE HAZARDS
•BLDG. INVENTORY RISK
•VULNERABILITY UNACCEPTABLE RISK
•LOCATION

GOAL: EARTHQUAKE
PHILIPPINES’ DISASTER RESILIENCE
DATA BASES
AND INFORMATION COMMUNITIES

POLICY OPTIONS

• PREPAREDNESS
HAZARDS: •PROTECTION
GROUND SHAKING
GROUND FAILURE •EARLY WARNING
SURFACE FAULTING
TECTONIC DEFORMATION
•EMERGENCY RESPONSE
TSUNAMI RUN UP •RECOVERY and
AFTERSHOCKS
RECONSTRUCTION
SOME OF THE PHILIPPINES’
NOTABLE EARTHQUAKE
EXPERIENCES

AUGUST 16, 1976

JULY 16, 1990
AUGUST 31, 2012
THE MINDANAO EARTHQUAKE
AND GULF OF MORO TSUNAMI
The Philippines’ Worst
Earthquake/Tsunami Disaster

M7.9
AUGUST 16, 1976
LOCATION
 THE EARTHQUAKE
• Occurring at night when schools and
offices were closd, the fatalities were
relatively low (about 800) despite
extensive damage to buildings due to
poor construction and/or inadequate
foundations.
• Bridges and roads in Mindanao and the
city of Cotobato were damaged.
COTOBATO: DAMAGED
BRIDGE
Unfortunately, there was no time for
the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
to issue a warning before a large
local tsunami struck the region just
minutes after the earthquake,
 THE GULF OF MORO
TSUNAMI
• The destructive tsunami generated in
the Gulf of Moro and in the Celebes Sea
killed about 90 percent of the estimated
8,000 total fatalities, hitting peope in
coastal communities in North and
South Zamboanga, North and South
Lanao, North Cotabato, Maguindanao
and Sultan Kudarat (Mindanao), and in
the neighboring Sulu Islands.
THE LUZON EARTHQUAKE

M7.8
JULY 16, 1990
4:26 pm
 LOCATION

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Luzon
_earthquake
 OCCURRENCE
• The earthquake occurred on the
Philippine fault system, a well-
known strike-slip fault zone.
• The rupture produced a 125 km-
long surface scarp stretching from
Dingalan, Aurora to Cuvapo, Nueva
Eciia.
LESSONS LEARNED FOR
DISASTER RESILIENCE
• ALL NOTABLE
EARTHQUAKES
• PROTECTION OF
BUILDINGS AND
INFRASTRUCTURE
IS ESSENTIAL
FOR COMMUNITY
RESILIENCE.
Baguio City was isolated
from the rest of the
Philippines for 48 hours
after the quake.
 BAGUIO CITY: DAMAGE TO
BUILDINGS
• Baguio City, a popular tourist
destination, situated about 1,500 m
(1 mile) above sea level, was among the
areas hardest hit by the earthquake.
• The collapsed and damaged buildings
in Baguio City included hotels,
factories, government and university
buildings, and homes..[
HYATT TERACES HOTEL:
80 DEAD
 BAGUIO CITY: DAMAGE TO
LIFELINE SYSTEMS
• Electric, water and communication
lines were destroyed.
• Kennon Road, the main vehicular
route to Baguio, as well as other
access routes to the mountain city,
were shut down by landslides
 FATALITIES
• An estimated 1,621 people were
killed in the earthquake, with
most of the fatalities located in
the Central Luzon and Cord-
illera region
M7.6 EARTHQUAKE STRIKES 140 KM
FROM SAMAR PROVINCE ON
EAST COAST OF THE PHILIPPINES

34 KM DEEP
8:47 PM
AUGUST 31, 2012
LOCATION MAP
 THE PHILIPPINES’ RENATO
SOLIDUM POINTS TO EPICENTER
LESSONS LEARNED FOR
DISASTER RESILIENCE
• ALL NOTABLE
EARTHQUAKES
• PREPAREDNESS
PLANNING FOR
THE INEVITABLE
GROUND
SHAKING IS
ESSENTIAL FOR
COMMUNITY
RESILIENCE.
 CAGAYAN DE ORO:
A COLLAPSED HOUSE
DAMAGED ROAD
DAMAGED ROAD
LESSONS LEARNED FOR
DISASTER RESILIENCE
• ALL NATURAL
HAZARDS
• CAPACITY FOR
INTELLIGENT
EMERGENCY
RESPONSE IS
ESSENTIAL FOR
COMMUNITY
RESILIENCE.
SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS
• Wide spread power outages
occurred in Samar Province
• One person was killed when a
landslide engulfed the home in
Cagayan de Oro City.
THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING
CENTER ISSUED A TSUNAMI
WARNING, WHICH WAS LIFTED
AFTER 2 HOURS
LESSONS LEARNED FOR
DISASTER RESILIENCE
• ALL NATURAL
HAZARDS
• CAPACITY FOR
RECOVERY AND
RECONSTRUCTION
IS ESSENTIAL FOR
COMMUNITY
RESILIENCE.