JHOMEL SANTOS
HINIHIMOK ngayon ng Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) ang publiko na makiisa sa isasagawang Simultaneous Earthquake at Tsunami Drill sa darating na Nobyembre 14.
Ayon sa PHIVOLCS, ang naturang aktibidad ay bahagi ng pagobserba ng bansa sa World Tsunami Awareness Day at ika-25 taong anibersaryo ng Mindoro earthquake at tsunami.
“The United Nations declared November 5 as the World Tsunami Awareness Day in honor of a true story from Japan: “Inamura-no-hi”, which means the “burning of the rice sheaves”. During an 1854 earthquake, a farmer saw the tide receding, a sign of a looming tsunami and he set fire to his harvested rice to warn villagers, who fled to high ground,” saad ng PHIVOLCS.
Dagdag pa ng PHIVOLCS, “This year marks the 25th anniversary of the 1994 Mindoro earthquake and tsunami. A magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Mindoro on November 15, 1994 at 3:15 AM local time. The earthquake and tsunami severely affected several northern Mindoro towns killing 78 people.”
Binigyang diin din ng ahensya na hindi mapipigilan ang tsunami ngunit kayang maibsan ang posibleng epekto nito sa pamamagitan ng pagiging handa ng komunidad, napapanahong mga warning at kaukulang aksyon.
Ipinaliwanag din ng PHIVOLCS na lahat ng coastal area sa Pilipinas ay maaaring maapektuhan ng tsunami na nagaganap tuwing may malakas na lindol sa ilalim ng dagat.
Ang pinakamataas na tsunami na naitala ay umabot sa 8.5 meters o kasingtaas ng halos 3 palapag na gusali.
Ito ay narekord nang maganap ang 1994 Mindoro earthquake.