Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) Officer-In-Charge Renato Solidum said on Monday that the so-called “Big One”, an inevitable powerful quake expected to hit Metro Manila, and the series of earthquakes in Mindanao have no connection at all.
Dr. Renato Solidum (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
“There’s no connection at all between the events in Cotabato and the fault that is moving with Metro Manila. It is too far away,” Solidum said in an interview with ANC’s Early Edition.
He said that the quakes in Mindanao were interrelated. The earthquakes in Cotabato were generated by the Cotabato fault system.
Solidum said the magnitude-6.3 earthquake likely triggered the magnitude 6.6 quake that followed on October 29.
“Most likely these two events may have been generated by one fault. Later on the stress was transferred to another fault nearby which is again part of the Cotabato system and because of this, aftershocks have been recorded since the occurrences of these three strong quake events and we still continue to feel some of this even today,” Solidum explained.
“What has been happening would show you that one fault may affect another set of faults or a nearby fault that is observed now but those that are far away will not be,” he added.
He said that they have recorded over 2,700 aftershocks as of 4 a.m. this morning since the October 16 magnitude 6.6 quake.
According to him, the Makilala-Malungon fault –the longer fault in the Cotabato fault system, made a stronger quake possible.
On November 1, Phivolcs said there was a possibility of a magnitude 7.2 earthquake if the fault moves.
“As to when it would move, we don’t know, we cannot say yet,” Solidum said.