Disaster Preparedness

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

by Anton Antonio

May 13, 2015

In the last 24 hours several earthquakes of varying intensities (2.6 to 8.2 on the Richter magnitude scale) occurred in Papua New Guinea, the United States, Indonesia, British Virgin Islands, Nepal, Japan, Philippines, China, South Africa, Ecuador, Tonga, Afghanistan and Fiji.  The most notable among these tremors are those that occurred in Nepal and Japan due to their magnitude, destruction to properties and lose in human lives. 

Movement of these tectonic plates is the primary cause of earthquakes.  There are several tectonic plates covering planet earth but movement seems to be more evident with the Pacific, Philippine, Eurasian and Indian Plates.  (Please see accompanying map of Tectonic Plates.)  This is a worrisome development since the Philippine Plate (which is one of the smaller plates mentioned) might be in for a violent shift.

I also chanced upon a Facebook post by Mr. Rafael M. Alunan, III enumerating some relevant questions and concerns on earthquake-related disaster preparedness:

“BEFORE THE BIG QUAKE MOVES THE EAST-WEST VALLEY FAULT LINES AND DEVASTATE THE METRO MANILA AREA, SOME QUESTIONS THAT NEED TO BE ASKED REGARDING PREPAREDNESS:

1. What precautions have been undertaken so far (and how far to go to accomplish desired targets) to reduce structural damage to buildings, homes and vital infrastructure.
2. What precautions have been undertaken to avert a collapse of Angat-Umiray tunnel, Angat Dam, Ipo Dam, La Mesa and Wawa Dam to keep water supply intact? What precautions have been undertaken to protect water aqueducts, reserviors, pumping stations and major pipes from serious damage or collapse to keep water distribution flowing to help fight fires and sustain the people's survival?
3. What steps have been taken to forge public-private synergies to ensure a robust emergency response from the ground, air and sea - incident management, damage assessment, debris clearing for ingress/egress of emergency teams, fire control, search-rescue, evacuation, disaster relief, first responder support, regional reinforcements, logistics hubs, supply trains, community self-reliance survival plans, etc.
4. Have all possible contingencies been considered in planning and field training exercises to include international linkages to ensure optimal emergency response?
5. At the home level, what preparations have Metro Manila communities undertaken to survive under the most difficult conditions during the emergency period which could last for weeks depending on the extent of the disaster?

Let's get serious about unity, solidarity and teamwork BEFORE the Big One hits us.”

Mr. Raffy Alunan is certainly not a tiny voice in the wilderness.  Mr. Rafael Moreno Alunan, III, serves as the President of the First Philippine Infrastructure Development Corp.  Mr. Alunan also serves as the President of Kilosbayan.  He served in the cabinets of President Fidel Ramos and President Corazon Aquino as Secretary of the Interior and Local Government and Secretary of Tourism, respectively.  He serves as a Non-Executive Director of Manila North Tollways Corporation.  He has been an Independent Director of Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines, Inc. since 2007.  He serves as a Director of Sun Life of Canada (Philippines) Inc., Sun Life Financial Plans, Inc., Sun Life Balanced Fund, Inc. and the Management Association of the Philippines.  He holds a double degree in Business Administration and History-Political Science from the De La Salle University and a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University and MBA from Ateneo De Manila University.

When knowledgeable people and brilliant visionaries, like Mr. Alunan, get alarmed, there really something to be alarmed about.  He is right to ask these questions… what really is our level of disaster preparedness?

Just my little thoughts…

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