MANILA – Over 30,000 people in Metro Manila and nearby areas could die should a massive earthquake triggered by the movement of the Valley Fault System occur, an expert said.
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) executive director Renato Solidum said the latest Phivolcs and Geoscience Australia study revealed that as many as 31,000 people could die should a quake of at least magnitude 7.2 hit the metro.
Solidum, in an interview on dzMM, said this figure was arrived at based on a night-time quake scenario, when most people are already in their homes, sleeping.
He said this figure is almost similar to a Phivolcs, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) study which estimated that there will be 34,000 fatalities and 113,600 injuries in case the so-called ''The Big One'' occurs.
Solidum said this large number of fatalities may happen if the government and public will not do any risk reduction and mitigation measures.
He said precautionary measures such as earthquake drills and retrofitting of vulnerable structures will help in preventing deaths.
He noted that a majority of the deaths will be caused by collapsed structures. The fatalities projected in the studies do not take into account other causes of deaths which may occur after an earthquake, such as fires and electrocution.
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