The Iloilo City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO) has revealed that a potential “localized tsunami” may occur should a powerful earthquake happen along the Negros Trench.
As reported by Daily Guardian, DRRMO Quick Response Division head Darwin Joemil Papa detailed the possibility of a localized tsunami with a wave height of up to 11.54 meters, or as high as a three-story building.
This “worst-case scenario,” Papa added, could be triggered if a magnitude 8.2 earthquake occurs along the Negros Trench, an active tectonic zone located northeast of the Sulu Trench and west of Negros Island Region in the Visayas. It is also recognized by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) as a “tsunami-generating source” if a large thrust earthquake or submarine landslide happens.
Papa explained that the tsunami may reach certain parts of Iloilo City within 15 minutes, and warned that the city will have little or no time to react, considering the short lead time for the waves to reach coastal areas.
“Right from the start of the shaking, by the time it’s possible it will hit us, there’s no chance for us to prepare,” he said.
For context, the magnitude 8.2 “Lady Caycay” earthquake that shook Panay Island in 1948 claimed the lives of 20 people, including two who drowned in tsunami waves along Iloilo Strait.
Iloilo is geographically flat, leaving vertical evacuation – moving to a higher floor or designated elevated area during emergencies such as tsunamis, floods or fires – as the only “survival option.”
“There is nowhere to go because Iloilo City is relatively flat. Our option is to go up to standing and high-rise buildings,” Papa added, while urging the community to “identify strong evacuation sites” that can withstand a major seismic activity.
One such structure is the Iloilo City Hall, which is reported to withstand a magnitude 8 earthquake for two minutes.
