• Home
• Welcome
• Doctors
• PhilMedicsPlus

Quake rocks Mindoro; Mayon spews more ash

A POWERFUL EARTHQUAKE struck at sea off Mindoro on Friday, but there were no immediate reports of casulties or damage, seismologists said.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the quake had a magnitude of  6.1 and occured at 2:24 p.m. The epicenter was about 116 kilometers southwest of Calapan, Mindoro Oriental. It had a depth of 45 km.

Phivolcs said the tremor was tectonic in origin caused by movement in the Manila Trench.

Intensity 3 was felt in Manila, Makati, Pasay, Tagaytay and Lucban, Quezon while intensity 2 was felt in San Jose Occidental Mindoro and Puerto Galera.

Big Waves
“It was a strong earthquake and it lasted for quite a while,” officer Rose Macabenta told AFP by telephone from provincial police headquarters.

“It rattled the tabletops, but the wall frames stayed in place,” she said.

Seismologist Ismael Narag said the quake generated enough power to unleash big waves, but added that no warning was issued because authorities did not think it was capable of triggering a tsunami.

“It would have to be at least 6.5 magnitude to generate a tsunami,” said Narag, from Phivolcs.

In Legaspi City, Philvolcs warned that small explosions and ash puffs similar to the one first experienced on Tuesday were possible and may affect the stability of the 200,000 cubic meter lava dome, which might result in its eventual collapse.

Aerial Survey
Resident volcanologist Eduardo Laguerta said the Phivolcs was was niw focusing its attention on the lava dome.An aerial survey is scheduled to be conducted once the weather clears up for an observation from above the crater.

“An aerial survey is crucial for rechecking the stability of the lava dome whether it is still intact or ready to roll down, we would only know if we could take a closer look at the crater.”

Laguerta said as much as the Phivolcs wants to conduct an aerial survey on Friday the  crater was obscured by clouds.

“Doing so would just be a waste of time and fuel for the helicopter so we have to patiently wait for the clouds to disappear so we could only reiterate the warning within the danger zones,” he added.

The seismic network detected 13 volcanic earthquakes and recorded 582 tons of sulfur dioxide emissions during the past 24-hour observation period.

Disaster officials have maintained their warning against venturing into the six-kilometer permanent danger zones, particularly at the southeast flanks, for possible rock falls from the upper slopes.

Avoid lahar-prone areas
Active river channels and those areas perennially identified as lahar-prone in the southeast sector should also be avoided, especially during bad weather or when there is heavy and prolonged rainfall, officials added.

Joey Salceda, Albay governor and chair of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council, said that “Albay is ready and our preparations have been  in place well ahead and would merely be escalated and enhanced.”

Mayon Volcano, famous for its nearly perfect cone, has a height of over 2,400 meters. It last erupted in 2006. Alcuin Papa, Rey M. Nasol, Inquirer Southern Luzon and AFP

Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.