41 seconds, 41 years ago

It happened in about 41 seconds 41 years ago.The most recent tremor that hit South-Central Mindanao on August 5 was a quivering reminder of the historic Magnitude 7.2 Earthquake that literally razed to the ground at least nine of the city’s buildings on August 17, 1976 at 12:10 a.m.The Cotabato City tsunami quake was more popularly known locally as the Intensity 8 Earthquake as it was then projected in the news and by souvenir items like silkscreen T-shirt prints--although it measured Magnitude 7.2 in the Richter Scale, according to seismological studies.More than 8,000 people were killed that day, and 10,000 more were either injured or were left homeless.Eyewitness accounts by residents recalled a gargantuan formation of a tsunami tidal wave on Moro Gulf that washed away shoreline communities, including Barangay Bwaya-Bwaya and parts of what is now Datu Blah Sinsuat town in the southwest coast of Central Mindanao.Curiously, the term tidal wave was introduced to local residents by a Hollywood film of the same title, shown during the weeks prior to the incident in one of the local movie houses—Young’s Theater.The city’s landscape has since changed with new structures now occupying spaces of those buildings that collapsed. Some of them areand the Di Max Restaurant (along Japal Guiani Sr. St.), on which now stands the Digital Image Building Sagittarius Hotel (along SK Pendatun), which has been replaced by the Pritong Manok Restaurant and Francel Theater (on Jose Lim) on which is now a three-story building of a hardware store.The Harvardian Colleges (on SK Pendatun) is now occupied by the El Manuel-Citi Hardware-Centro Mall Complex. The then famous Sultan Theater and Hotel (along Don Rufino Alonzo St.) has been rebuilt, although the hotel component of it was never revived as a business branch of the edifice. The Southseas Trading (along Jose Lim) has been rebuilt at the present location of the Old Southseas (Building) along Don Rufino Alonzo St. The Old Market Building has since been renewed to become the City Arcade The First Traders’ Store has replaced by the First Gift Traders Building on the same ground (along Corner SK Pendatun-Guiani St.).On the other hand, the administration of the Notre Dame University has not filled in the space of the school’s Auditorium Building which also crumbled to the fury of the 1976 Earthquake. Image may contain tree and outdoor sand//scontent.fmnl4-5.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/20664063_1827234420636300_1645332003933030830_n.jpg?oh=a4366a62d77e0a2990aaae921dcc9d6bandampoe=5A25BF06 The transport link to and from Cotabato City and Davao City was almost cut with the collapse of the Second Span of the Quirino Bridge from the city-side embankment.More recently, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has called on the City Legislature to pass an Ordinance requiring owners to retrofit buildings, and which should also be required of government structures in the city. The Quirino Bridge was retrofitted and its structural assessment closes it to traffic for heavy vehicles.A Retrofitting Ordinance will subject buildings and structures to thorough inspection for evaluation in terms of structural durability and endurance in state of earthquakes and other calamities.The Phivolcs said the extent of the August 5 earthquake’s seismometer strength varied from Magnitude 5.6 to Magnitude 6 from its epicenter in Malapatan Sarangani— specifically, 05.81°North, 125.41°East - 022 km South 38° East of that town. We must be concerned about this as the Philippines, as a whole, is included in the Pacific Ring of Fire, Engr. Rainier Amilbahar, Phivolcs–Central Mindanao seismic station chief, said.According to the Philippine Earthquake Hazard Map, of the 20 Mindanao fault-lines and a trench, 14 are situated in Central through South-Central Mindanao areas and seven of these are considered critical fault-lines. One is located along the Zamboanga Peninsula and the rest run East through Southern Mindanao in the other half of the island.Mapped in Central Mindanao are the Lanao Fault Central Mindanao Fault Zamboanga Fault Cotabato Trench Mindanao Faults 1 and 2 Mindanao Fault Daguma Maitum Lake Sebu Fault Kat Kiamba Fault Tuka Kiamba Fault Siguel Maasim T’boli Fault Banga Fault’ Columbio Fault Tampakan Fault and Malungon Fault.The Eastern Mindanao has Lianga Fault Tambulan Fault the Eastern Mindanao Fault the Philippine Trench Mati Fault Davao River Fault and the Davao Trench.Meanwhile, school grounds are deemed insufficiently prepared for these seismological forewarnings by authorities.Similar concerns were raised at a recent thanksgiving gathering of Muslim and Christian parents and teachers at the Southseas Mall for the bicentenary celebration of the Marist International Community of Catholic Religious Institute of Brothers (Marist Brothers).Lincoln Bagundang, president of the Notre Dame of Cotabato (NDC) Parents-Teachers Association, said that although Big One forecasts have largely focused on Luzon areas along the west valley, local fault zones could unpredictably trigger major earthquakes and tsunamis, as it happened here on August 17, 1976.Because of this, some parents are contemplating on encouraging the school’s PTA to advocate for disaster consciousness and preparedness which would include allowing students to each keep a survival kit in their lockers, or to group them in classroom clusters to share students’ lockers with those who do not have. A survival kit may contain a flashlight, a battery, drinking water, biscuits, and a call-and-text mobile phone ready for active use anytime. According to the Phivolcs,in thehistorical catalog of earthquakes during the last 100 years, Central Mindanao and Western Mindanao have been characterized by moderate to high seismicity. Nash B. Maulana Image may contain sky house and outdoor sand//scontent.fmnl4-5.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/20664966_1827234493969626_3329142529391576101_n.jpg?oh=ca4ba09aed1e9dde046a0050375318dfandampoe=59F5DD1C Image may contain sky bridge outdoor and water sand//scontent.fmnl4-5.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/20663912_1827234543969621_7603495420956103735_n.jpg?oh=d7248479564bbe55b90f8ee2025c3154andampoe=5A363A6E Image may contain outdoor and water sand//scontent.fmnl4-5.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/20664565_1827234587302950_8153680078777106118_n.jpg?oh=592ec1f82ff83bc878965efbaeaa7d38andampoe=59F47558 Image may contain outdoor sand//scontent.fmnl4-5.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/20638837_1827234660636276_3463473354621229400_n.jpg?oh=ea69e3c65ba09daa1f965016d7226cf1andampoe=5A28247A