Phivolcs: No sign of ‘big one’ so far

MANILA, Philippines - After recording no major quake in the first few hours of the day, state seismologists reassured the public that persistent claims of a magnitude-8.1 quake hitting the country are baseless. Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) director Renato Solidum Jr also took a dig early Friday at the "prophet," Juseleeno DaRoose, who supposedly made the claim. "Wala ... Magnitude 8.1 ang sinasabi, wala pang sinumang pwede magsabi ng exact na araw ng pagganap ng malakas na paglindol (No sign of any quake so far. The claim of a magnitude-8.1 quake is baseless scientifically because no one can accurately predict the exact date of a quake)," Solidum said in an interview on dzBB radio. He said it is hard to believe DaRoose's "prophecy" of a quake, saying their background check on him showed he tended to "postmark" or "antedate" his supposed predictions. "Ang credibility niya questionable din. Lately ang balita ko rin dine-deny niya (So his credibility is questionable. And lately I heard he himself is denying the claim)," he said. In past weeks, email and text messages had been circulating claiming DaRoose had predicted a magnitude-8.1 quake to hit the country on July 18. But despite the repeated assurances, officials in northern Metro Manila have ordered preparations for such an event. Radio dzBB's Bernie Morales reported that the city governments of Malabon and Navotas used the publicity over the "prophecy" to order the scheduling of quake drills. The report said both city governments also ordered the scheduling of inspections on buildings to see if they can stand earthquakes. - GMANews.TV