Fellow Filipinos---are we prepared for a Biggie Quake?

PSA or the Pacific Security Assessment, a think tank, estimates 35,000 people dead and monumental infrastructure damage in the Philippines if a biggie quake strikes us. With Japan and New Zealand already affected, many doomsayers say, it is only a matter of time before the Philippines experience the biggie quake.


Yes, our country lies in the so-called Ring of Fire, a global network of "hot rods" so to speak that shows faults ringed throughout the world. These faults are "gaps" between tectonic plates, and these plates move every single day. What makes it extremely worse is when these plates move in dramatic fashion. That sends off these earthquakes. 


We had our own horrific stories to tell about huge earthquakes. Fact is, we are one of a few countries which experience earthquakes almost every single day. Biggie quakes, however, well, it comes dime a dozen. In the past decades or so, however, these biggie quakes come in twos and trios.


What is comforting is the fact that our quakes happen mostly in the Southern part of our archipelago and at sea. When it happens, it strikes so deep that it does little damage to us. It neither create tsunamis nor inland quakes.


Of course, we need to prepare when such quakes hit inland. Japan's 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit the sea near Sensai and the occurring tremors struck land and even dislocated Japan some 10 meters. It was so strong that it affected the earth's axis, tilting it for another few centimeters.


There has been no 8 plus magnitude earthquake in the past that really created a catalysmic scenario in the Philippines. Yes, we had our share of 8 plus earthquakes but it left us a little scarred but nothing as major as what Japan experienced. 


In the modern age, we can't do anything except prepare our bayanihan teams for the inevitable. We can't really rely on government to do everything for us. This early, we must accept the fact that if we want to save ourselves from these "biggie quakes", we all must rely on ourselves and our People's collective Will to act in case of extreme emergencies.