PHIVOLCS, NDRRMC: Be quake-ready with life-saving duck-cover-hold moves

Those "duck, cover and hold" moves during earthquake drills may be "corny" or made light of by some, officials of PHIVOLCS and NDRRMC acknowledge, but they assert that those moves and the drills they are part of will save lives when disastrous quakes strike.

 

At the GMA News Online-I M Ready earthquake preparedness forum on Friday, NDRRMC chief Alexander Pama said, "Corny na ho kung corny, pero itinutulak namin... Nag-duck, cover, and hold na po kami sa YouTube. Ito po ay napakaimportante."

 

Pama said this is part of the so-called "disaster imagination" that the public should have.

 

"'Yung basic po na sinasabing 'duck, cover, and hold,' tatakpan 'yung ulo. 'Yan po ang pinakaimportanteng parte ng katawan. Kapag tayo natamaan sa ulo, kahit ano pang galing ng alam mong gagawin, wala na. You cannot proceed to step two [kapag natamaan ka sa ulo]. Proteksyunan ho agad 'yung ulo," he said.

 

PHIVOLCS head Renato Solidum Jr. said two more reminders, stop and stay put, can also save lives.

 

"If maabutan ka ng aftershock, 'duck, cover, and hold' hanggang makalabas ka. Hindi ka pwedeng lumabas ng building hanggang gumagalaw 'yon kasi baka mahulugan ka ng kung anu-anong bagay," he said.

 

Solidum said people may hide under the table, or by the corners of a room, when an earthquake occurs.

 

"Stay put in the room... Magtago sa ilalim ng mesa, or doon ka sa poste at biga, sa mga sulok ng kwarto," he said, adding that only after which should people go out of the building immediately.

 

"Pagkatapos ng lindol, bumaba ka na lang kasi may aftershocks. Pwedeng masira 'yung bahay o building... Inaasahan natin na mahina na 'yung bahay kung hindi siya napabagsak nu'ng una," he said.

 

Solidum also said people should know the exits leading to open spaces outside wherever they may be.

 

"Alamin n'yo kung saan kayo pupwesto kapag lindol, saan ang open space. 'Yun po ang kailangan, dapat alam n'yo ang exit -- nasa bahay man o sa eskwelahan o sa mall," he added.

 

The earthquake preparedness forum was held soon after the PHIVOLCS released its Valley Fault System (VFS) Atlas by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), which mapped the areas affected by earthquake faults in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

 

The VFS has two segments: the East Valley Fault running through Rizal, and the West Valley Fault, running through Bulacan, Rizal, Metro Manila, Cavite, and Laguna.

 

The West Valley Fault could generate a magnitude 7.2 earthquake while the East Valley Fault could generate a magnitude 6.2 earthquake.  — ELR, GMA News