Earthquake swarm in Batangas not related to Taal –Solidum
Published Jan 20, 2020 12:00 am
By Hanah Tabios
Philippine Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) Director Dr. Renato Solidum clarified Monday that the strong 4.6-magnitude earthquake that hit Mabini, Batangas on Sunday evening was a separate activity generated by a local fault beneath the said town.
Dr. Renato Solidum
(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) “Ito po ay nangyayari habang ang Taal Volcano naman ay may activity,” Solidum said in a press briefing. Solidum noted that there were three earthquakes felt in Batangas on Sunday, Jan. 19, which were all related to the said fault—a phenomenon that was first observed in April 2017. According to a Phivolcs primer on the April 2017 series of earthquakes in Batangas, the tremors felt “can be attributed to the movement of an unnamed local fault in the vicinity of the Tingloy-Mabini area” which is still ongoing to date. If the epicenters were referred, Solidum told the Manila Bulletin that these were felt were at 8:23p.m., 8:59p.m., and 10:02p.m. on Sunday. Per Phivolcs record, all were tectonic in origin with 3.4-magnitude, 4.6-magnitude, and 4.0-magnitude, respectively. In fact, some residents of the disaster-hit province were prompted to sleep outside their houses by setting up tents amid fears of structural collapses. Solidum also clarified that the series of tremors hitting Mabini town as the epicenter was not related to a movement in the West Valley Fault (WVF), a segment of the Valley Fault System (VFS), which runs through six cities in Metro Manila and parts of the provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and Cavite. The Phivolcs primer also cited that a phenomenon called earthquake swarm is currently happening in Batangas. “An earthquake swarm is a burst of earthquake activity clustered in a specific area in a short period of time due to movement of a fault. The Batangas swarm started on 4 April at 8:58p.m.and is still ongoing to date,” it said, citing that the province is one of the seismically active areas in the Philippines.
Dr. Renato Solidum(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) “Ito po ay nangyayari habang ang Taal Volcano naman ay may activity,” Solidum said in a press briefing. Solidum noted that there were three earthquakes felt in Batangas on Sunday, Jan. 19, which were all related to the said fault—a phenomenon that was first observed in April 2017. According to a Phivolcs primer on the April 2017 series of earthquakes in Batangas, the tremors felt “can be attributed to the movement of an unnamed local fault in the vicinity of the Tingloy-Mabini area” which is still ongoing to date. If the epicenters were referred, Solidum told the Manila Bulletin that these were felt were at 8:23p.m., 8:59p.m., and 10:02p.m. on Sunday. Per Phivolcs record, all were tectonic in origin with 3.4-magnitude, 4.6-magnitude, and 4.0-magnitude, respectively. In fact, some residents of the disaster-hit province were prompted to sleep outside their houses by setting up tents amid fears of structural collapses. Solidum also clarified that the series of tremors hitting Mabini town as the epicenter was not related to a movement in the West Valley Fault (WVF), a segment of the Valley Fault System (VFS), which runs through six cities in Metro Manila and parts of the provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and Cavite. The Phivolcs primer also cited that a phenomenon called earthquake swarm is currently happening in Batangas. “An earthquake swarm is a burst of earthquake activity clustered in a specific area in a short period of time due to movement of a fault. The Batangas swarm started on 4 April at 8:58p.m.and is still ongoing to date,” it said, citing that the province is one of the seismically active areas in the Philippines.