Roxas on farewell tour, meets with ... 2016 Aquino, Roxas honor Robredo as LP ... PHILIPPINES #Puga High PUGADB Midnight killer: The 1976 Moro Gulf tsunami Almost 4 decades ago, the most devastating tsunami in the history of the Philippines hit the Moro Gulf region and killed around 8,000 people. But it also prompted a change in the country's disaster preparedness system. Learn why. Gwen de la Cruz Updated 6:01 AM, Aug 18, 2015 WIPED OUT. The aftermath of the 1976 Moro Gulf tsunami in Lebak, Sultan Kudarat. Photo from Wikimedia Commons MANILA, Philippines - It was 10 minutes past midnight of August 17, 1976, a Tuesday. #PROJECTAGOS
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Roxas on farewell tour,meets with ...
2016
Aquino, Roxas honorRobredo as LP ...
PHILIPPINES
#PugadBaboy: DrivingHigh
PUGADBABOY
Midnight killer: The 1976 Moro Gulf tsunami
Almost 4 decades ago, the most devastating tsunami in the history of the Philippines hit theMoro Gulf region and killed around 8,000 people. But it also prompted a change in thecountry's disaster preparedness system. Learn why.
Gwen de la Cruz
Updated 6:01 AM, Aug 18, 2015
WIPED OUT. The aftermath of the 1976 Moro Gulf tsunami in Lebak, Sultan Kudarat. Photo from WikimediaCommons
MANILA, Philippines - It was 10 minutes past midnight of August 17, 1976, a Tuesday.
While most people were sleeping, a massive earthquake, registering magnitude 8.0 on theRichter scale, rocked most of Mindanao and parts of the Visayas.
The tremor was most strongly felt in the cities and towns surrounding the Moro Gulf,particularly in Cotabato City, which now hosts the regional center of the Autonomous Regionin Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
What made the 1976 Moro Gulf Quake most devastating, however, was not just the degree ofthe earth shaking.
With its epicenter near the town of Lebak in Sultan Kudarat, in a region of the Celebes Seawhere earthquakes frequently occur – the 1976 Moro Gulf quake brought with it one of themost terrifying natural forces known to man: a tsunami. (READ: Tsunami 101: What you needto know about tsunamis)
Without warning, about 2-5 minutes after the earthquake struck, waves as high as 9 metersreached the shore and inundated communities along the Moro Gulf.
The tsunami affected 700 kilometers of coastline, with Pagadian City, Cotabato City,Zamboanga City, and Lebak in Sultan Kudarat experiencing the highest waves.
About 8,000 people died, including those missing and were never found, making it the mostdisastrous tsunami to hit the Philippines.
It is more than the number of casualties recorded after Super Typhoon Yolanda, the strongesttyphoon in the world, hit the country.
Eyewitness accounts
In the report Moro Gulf Tsunami of 17 August 1976, Fr Victor Badillo and Zinnia Astilla of theManila Observatory for the Special Committee on Tsunami Warning System gathered thefollowing statements:
MOST DISASTROUS. One of the houses wiped out by waves as high as 9 meters in Lebak, Sultan Kudarat. Photofrom Wikimedia Commons
“A housewife of Pagadian City said that at about 12:15am, the earth started to move. Shewoke her 10 children up to evacuate to higher grounds knowing that a tidal wave would followa powerful tremor. Five minutes later, giant waves roared half-a-kilometer inland washingaway hundreds of houses along the coast.”
– from the Philippine Daily Express
“I couldn’t stand up, I was dizzy and nauseated on feeling the earthquake. After a while talkingwith fear-striken people I went to my room but came down at once upon hearing a loudrumbling like many trucks together. Someone shouted it was the surf. The noise had been the
roar of a giant wave which swept little huts on stilts.”
– from the Asian Report
“We were asleep. I woke up as the house rocked like a boat caught in a storm… We all rushedout of the house… for safer ground. Seconds after, the killer wave engulfed our house. It wasa nightmare beyond belief.”
– from Warlito Fausto, a 33-year-old route helper
Midnight killer
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) director Renato Solidum saidthe high number of deaths – many of whom were children – could be attributed to the time thetsunami striked and the number of people residing near the shore at that time.
"Many people lived near the coast. Also, it was very dark. [It was] past midnight… Why many[died]? It's because it was sudden. If it happened in the morning when children are in school, alot of people would probably be able to run for their lives," Solidum explained.
It’s important to note the type of the tsunami, he added. "It was a local tsunami. The onset ofthe first event (wave) occurred 2 to 5 minutes after the earthquake. Definitely, the height of thewave would matter in terms of the number of deaths."
While the earthquake caused fire and some buildings to collapse, the tsunami caused most ofthe damage.
The massive devastation brought by the Moro Gulf earthquake and the tsunami that followedresulted in a change in the country's disaster preparedness plans. It also led then presidentFerdinand Marcos to revise the provisions of the National Building Code a year after thetragedy.
In 1978, Marcos created the National Disaster Coordinating Council, the predecessor of whatis now known as the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. (READ: FASTFACTS: the NDRRMC)
Tsunami generators in PH
The Philippines is more vulnerable to geological hazards such as earthquakes and tsunamis,according to the Phivolcs, due to its geography as an archipelago located along the PacificOcean's Ring of Fire.
Located along every side of the Philippine archipelago are different trenches that can generatetsunamis should the trenches move enough to create an earthquake.
According to Solidum, tsunamis in the Philippines are more dangerous compared to those thatoccur in other countries such as Indonesia and Japan.
“The tsunamis in our country arrive much faster than those in Indonesia and Japan becausethe source of the earthquake or the trenches are closer to the shorelines. If the trenches arecloser to the shoreline, then the source of the tsunami will be much closer to the shoreline, sothe distance will only be short and the lead time will be shorter,” he explained.
While chances of tsunamis are higher in large bodies of water, inland seas like in Bohol andCebu can also generate tsunamis and landslides.
In Metro Manila, which lies near the Manila Trench and beside Manila Bay, a magnitude 6.5earthquake can generate a tsunami as high as 4 meters, which could kill about 3,100 people.This is based on the 2004 Metro Manila Earthquake Impact Reduction Study conducted by theJapan International Cooperation Agency. (READ: All you need to know about preparing forearthquakes)
Communities need to be prepared
In 2004, more than 200,000 people died after an earthquake and tsunami struck off theSumatra Coast near Banda Aceh, Indonesia, where more than half of the casualties came. Thetragedy painfully highlighted the need for reliable tsunami early-warning systems alongcoastal areas.
Following the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, Phivolcs developed a tsunamidetection system by setting up dry and wet sensors in 10 sites all over the Philippines. (READ:How the 2004 Asian tsunami helped the Philippines)
The agency also produced tsunami hazard maps for coastal areas.
Phivolcs has also set up 19 tide gauges to warn communities of a coming tsunami. “Thesensors are to confirm if the earthquake did or did not generate a tsunami. Or if there is atsunami, the sensors will also be used to tell us if the tsunami waves are over,” Solidum said.
But Solidum emphasizes that the agency can only do so much. While the Phivolcs is ready tomonitor and give warnings, nothing can compare to the vigilance and readiness of localcommunities.
“The issue here is how people will respond. Remember, it’s a local tsunami event - we cannotbeat the two minutes," Solidum said.
Solidum adds that the 1976 Moro Gulf tsunami serves as a lesson for local communites toprepare for any disaster.
“It is a very good example of a threat of a sudden onset of an event after an earthquake thatpeople need to know... People need to know which areas will be affected, where they will go if
they will be evacuated and where the safe evacuation centers should be located.” –Rappler.com
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RokenIsDodelijk
Wikipedia says it should be 700km coastline, not inland
Mike or Migs
My parents remembered it too well. They were in college in separate Mindanao universities. Both strucked by this tsunami.It came fast and at night where most already asleep.
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