MALASIQUI, Pangasinan – The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has recorded 104 earthquakes from May 27 to June 3 this year with epicenters offshore of Bolinao, Pangasinan.

April Grace Caluya Pagud, Bolinao Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office Research and Planning Section staff, said the earthquakes' magnitudes vary from 1.9 to 4.4.

"Although, most of the earthquakes are weak and were not felt in the land area, we continue to monitor because its epicenter is within the parts of Manila Trench, which is around 100 kilometers west of Bolinao," she said in an interview on Wednesday.

She said they are in constant coordination with Phivolcs for more information and the agency's official assessment.

"Batay naman po sa aming pagsusuri and initial explanation po ng mga experts, ‘yung ganitong klase daw po ng seismic activity ay puwedeng mangyari and possible na mangyari talaga sa mga tectonically active na lugar gaya po ng Manila Trench. So, sa kasalukuyan po wala naman po indication na ito po ay may connection sa isang malaki or paparating na lindol (Based on our monitoring and initial explanation of the experts, this kind of seismic activity really happens and is possible to happen in tectonically active areas like the Manila Trench. But at present, there are no indication that it has a connection to a big or upcoming earthquake)," Pagud said.

She added that the local government unit of Bolinao implements preparedness measures and procedures, including earthquake drills.

"We continuously coordinate with the communities and 24/7 monitoring of our emergency operations center as well as the information dissemination through our Facebook page and of course barangay assemblies and regular updating of contingency plan. So, we assure that our response teams and equipment are always ready," Pagud said.

Families were encouraged to prepare emergency go-bags and to broaden their awareness on the location and proximity of the nearest evacuation centers. (PNA)