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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Visayas devider DOST urges serious participation in earthquake drills

DOST urges serious participation in earthquake drills

Published Oct 29, 2025 02:52 pm
DOST Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. (left) with DOST Western Visayas and Negros Island Regional Director Rowen Gelonga in Iloilo City. (Tara Yap)
DOST Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. (left) with DOST Western Visayas and Negros Island Regional Director Rowen Gelonga in Iloilo City. (Tara Yap)
ILOILO CITY – The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has urged people in Western Visayas region to seriously take earthquake drills and other preparations following recent major tremors across the country.
DOST Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. explained that drills are based on science-based scenarios as earthquakes or tsunamis cannot be predicted.
“If you don’t have scenarios, you will be caught unaware and you will not be ready. Don’t be afraid,” Solidum said.
Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, and Iloilo provinces as well as the regional capital of Iloilo City have a history of earthquakes.
Western Visayas has two major earthquake generators – the West Panay Fault and the Negros Trench.
The West Panay Fault triggered a magnitude-8.2 earthquake in 1948 and caused massive destruction in Panay Island.
Earthquakes on the Negros Trench triggered tsunamis in southern Negros Island.
A former director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Solidum said tsunamis are very dangerous as it gives little time for people to escape to higher ground.
Solidum said local government units (LGUs) in the region have to look at different preparation scenarios due to its geographic features.

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DOST Earthquake Earthquake drills Western Visayas
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