MAGNITUDE 8 QUAKE possible IF Philippine and Manila Trench move

Tabuk City, Kalinga – The possibility of earthquakes as powerful as magnitude 8 is possible if the Philippine and Manila trench move - this is not a prediction but a worst case scenario to prepare the public and authorities, the state seismologists said on Sunday, October 12.

In the past two weeks, the Philippines experienced successive and strong jolts across the three main islands of the country – the strongest of them was the 7.4 earthquake that struck Davao Oriental on October 10, bringing 1,203 aftershocks as of noon of October 13.

The magnitude 7.4, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), was triggered by the movement of the Philippine Trench, a long and narrow depression on the ocean floor in Mindanao.

On Sunday, October 12, Dr. Teresito Bacolcol, Director for DOST – PHILVOCS, mentioned the possibilities of magnitude 8.1 and magnitude 8.3 earthquake if the Philippine and Manila Trench move.

Bacolcol, however, clarified that these are scenarios or possibilities and not predictions nor made up statements to scare people. He explained that a “scenario” is a possibility of a catastrophic earthquake based on studies on active fault or trench. He stressed that a scenario cannot point exactly when it is going to happen.

“Ang mga scenario na ito ay hindi prediksyon o pananakot. Ito ay dapat gamiting gabay para sat ama at sapat na paghahanda,” Bacolcol said, reminding the people to also be discerning of the information they see online.