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manwonder
News Just In :

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-paci … 022-07-27/

Take Care & Stay Safe
Timo62

@manwonder We never know when the big one will occur. On the news years ago it was stated that when the big one hits Manila 30,000 buildings will collapse. No high rise living for me. I say a little about disasters in my blog at timotraveling.blogspot.com/2015/06/disaster-preparedness-philippines.html

PhilRes
I know that a certain accounting firm was in a building in Makati, after Japan earthquake somebody had bright idea of being Japanese engineers down to evaluate their building...they then vacated the whole thing and I can see it from my office with a shadow of the name still at the top.  Essentially any building built at @ under 15 floors simply NOT engineered to withstand a 7, would collapse....and that is a LOT of buildings.

Reason we have hard hats in our go bags.  We in Grade A and well engineered bldg but still chose LOW floor.  But once OUT the amount of debris that would likely be falling, yikes.
pnwcyclist
We lived for 5 years in a 15 floor condo in Cebu that was engineered and built by Japanese. Felt pretty safe in it.
manwonder
"The Philippines lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of faults around the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquakes occur. It is also lashed by about 20 typhoons and tropical storms each year, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries"

So best be prepared.
Enzyte Bob

Understanding Earthquakes

The islands of the Philippines were formed when Tectonic Plates collided, maybe millions or billions years ago, nothing has changed and is still present.

The measurement of the strength is the Richter Scale. This is a non linear scale for an example a 6.0 is not twice as big as a 3.0. Each increase in number represents a 31 times stronger quake, for example the difference between 8.9 to 9 is bigger than the difference between 1 to 8.

Damage

Being a third world country maybe third world plus, the quality of construction or the lack of the quality of construction is a big consideration when considering the strength of the quake.

In some places there are rigid building codes and  inspection during construction.

Just my general observation that the construction blocks (cinder blocks) used in the Philippines do not have the strength or size of the ones used in the states. Another important thing is the mix of materials used in the manufacturing process of the blocks determines the strength. Also the size of the rebar, it is definitely smaller in the Philippines.

For all things being the same a quake say 7.3 will do more damage in a third world country due to the quality and construction practices compared where there are strict building codes.

In 2021 world wide there were 16 quakes between 7.0 and 7.9

No matter where you live in the Philippines it's a game of Russian Roulette.

The earthquake in Haiti in 2021 killed 2,248 with 138,000 buildings destroyed and the Richter was 7.2,  less than yesterdays quake of 7.3.
The previous large quake in Haiti was in 1842.

So the equation is the size of the quake, the quality of the construction, where you are and  the time of day.



PalawOne
Damage in Abra Province in the northern Philippines, near the epicenter of the earthquake, yesterday:

RDcdH8K.jpg
PalawOne
Sigh .. will try again .. c'mon expat dot com

RDcdH8K.jpg
PalawOne
More images ..

hiUeX6Z.jpg

L9HqZZP.jpg
mugteck
Wife told me she went into Vigan, capital of Ilocos Sur, today, Thursday, 7/28, and all businesses were closed.  Some nice sized cracks in roads and buildings. 
Lotus Eater
@Enzyte Bob

Yes some interesting points. What is often overlooked is that many single storey residences in the Philippines have had maybe an extra 3 or 4 storeys added to house the growing family. It boggles the mind as to how many building codes that we would have in the west, have been broken.

Tks to PalawOne for the pics
Okieboy
Bad thing if you own one of those condos and they consider it not safe to live in after an earthquake, I guess you just loose, we had two in Davao city after the quake that were not safe so the residents had to leave, I guess they are lucky they don't have to pay to have their condo demolished
Fred
There are two things that matter as far as how much damage a quake does - Magnitude and depth.
This was quite a big one but it was also only 10km deep so it will be nasty.


The USGN site is rather good and, if you ask nicely, they will send email alerts so you can get an idea of patterns as time goes on.

There are things to do that can help you in case of a decent size quake:
Don't be in a high rise building unless it's known to be earthquake proof. I wouldn't live in a block of flats  anywhere with a history of quakes.

If one strikes, be sure you know how to handle it.

Being prepared is also a good move. Much as the chances in this part of Java are slim, I have my essentials in one bag at night. Just one thing to grab, and no thinking required.
It's also really handy for work - just one thing to grab, and no thinking required. 1f601.svg
Lotus Eater
Bad thing if you own one of those condos and they consider it not safe to live in after an earthquake, I guess you just loose, we had two in Davao city after the quake that were not safe so the residents had to leave, I guess they are lucky they don't have to pay to have their condo demolished
- @Okieboy

Yes indeed. And even if you have buildings insurance I'm sure in the small print of the policy there will a get out clause that reads 'Act Of God' :(
One more reason to rent
Timo62

@Enzyte Bob "Third World" is passe. It is now known as "Developing Nation."

Timo62

@Timo62 I added a video about Situational Awareness at my blog  timotraveling.blogspot.com/2015/06/disaster-preparedness-philippines.html  Watch it and be better prepared next time!

kristopherryanwatson

@Timo62

I just watched this,  thank you for sharing. 
quite valuable insights here.


Lotus Eater

@Enzyte Bob "Third World" is passe. It is now known as "Developing Nation."

- @Timo62


And if you've been invited to the American Ambassadors welcome drinks party on Roxas Boulevard I guess the Lingua Franca would be 'Emerging nation'

'Ah thank you - I'll have a Bombay gin & tonic with a lime twist and oh, one of those crab canapés'  :)
kristopherryanwatson
@Timo62

Oh, i very much agree with you on that phrase. it is indeed passe', and i find it to be very much in poor taste.

I have not regretted taking a moment to correct anyone who refers to the Philippines as a 'third world' country, and suggest to them to employ "developing country" instead. it's a little more constructiv, and well....encouraging. 
Enzyte Bob
Not quite related . . .While living in the states we subscribed to TFC (The Philippine Channel).

They always seemed to broadcast floods, people walking chest high in water, hardly anything on earthquakes.

Unrelated I knew a Filipino real estate salesman who bought a 70 inch tv to watch football games but wouldn't spend $20 a month for his wife to watch TFC.

Among my wife's Filipino friends when they heard we were moving to the Philippines they all were encouraging.

Among the Filipino's I met through worked they all said are you was nuts and the second thing is there flooding nearby.
Cherryann01
I do remember going to visit my girlfriend in Davao a few years ago and staying at the Apo View Hotel. We were on one of the upper floors and I remember there was an earthquake while we were actually in bed making love. I think the earth moved for both of us that day but I did manage to resist asking her if the earth moved for her.1f923.svg
Lotus Eater
@Cherryann01

1f923.svg1f923.svg1f923.svg

Cherryanne - you can hear the answer without asking the question. Lol

When I was in Davao in 2010 I nearly stayed at that hotel but ended up at the Marco Polo. I guess it was the lobby lounge jazz bar that swayed me.. 1f3a4.svg
Cherryann01

@Lotus Eater Yeh when I went the only two hotels I considered were the Marco Polo and the Apo View

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