Solidum: No man-made activity can trigger an earthquake

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said on Monday that no man-made activity can induce destructive earthquakes amid the tremors that hit parts of the country recently. 

Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum explained that earthquakes originate kilometers below the surface. 

“Wala pa pong anumang gawa ng tao na makakatumbas sa enerhiya na pinapakawalan pagdating ng lindol. Ang mga lindol ay masyadong malalim, mga kilomtero po ang pinanggagalingan. For example, yung magnitude 7.4, ay nasa 20 kilometers below the surface. So imposible pong maka-create pa tayo ng isang instrumento na maka-impluwensiya doon sa napakalalim na parte,” he said in Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon. 

(There is no man-made activity yet that can equal the energy that is released when an earthquake occurs. Earthquakes are too deep; they originate kilometers below. For example, the magnitude 7.4, is about 20 kilometers below the surface. So we can't create an instrument that could influence that very deep part.) 

The department added that, for instance, the energy needed to trigger a magnitude 6.0 earthquake is similar to that of an atomic bomb. 

“Ang isang magnitude 6 na lindol ay katumbas ng isang hiroshima na atomic bomb ang energy. So mahirap pang gumawa ng haka-haka na ang lindol na nangyari sa Pilipinas ay man-made,” Solidum said. 

(A magnitude 6 earthquake is equivalent to the energy of a Hiroshima atomic bomb. So it’s difficult to speculate that the earthquake that happened in the Philippines is man-made.) 

“Ang pinapakawalang enerhiya ng lindol ay naiipon ng daang taon o kaya thousands of years,” he added. 

(The energy released by an earthquake is accumulated over hundreds of years or thousands of years.) 

‘Big One’ 

Further, the DOST said that a destructive earthquake of magnitude 7.8 or the “Big One” could occur in any place in the Philippines and not just in Metro Manila. 

“Ang bawat lugar sa Pilipinas, region, province, town or city, may kanya-kanyang “Big One”. Iba po ang scenario sa Davao Oriental, iba sa Cebu, iba sa Metro Manila, iba sa Davao, iba sa Iloilo,” said Solidum. 

(Every place in the Philippines, region, province, town or city, has its own "Big One." The scenario in Davao Oriental is different, different in Cebu, different in Metro Manila, different in Davao, different in Iloilo.) 

The country was recently hit with massive earthquakes: a magnitude 6.9 earthquake in Bogo City, Cebu, last September 30 and a “doublet earthquake” offshore of Manay, Davao Oriental, last October 10. 

The magnitude 6.9 earthquake in Cebu was caused by a fault that had not moved for 400 years. Meanwhile, the magnitude 7.4 and 6.8 earthquakes in Davao Oriental were triggered by a movement in the Philippine Trench. –NB, GMA Integrated News