ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR III
As this piece is being written , about a few hours ago a 6.2 Magnitude quake hits the Calatagan Batangas area, it reportedly rattles Luzon and aftershocks are coming in including the 2:24 PM which is on record at the Philvolcs website .
On 6 February 2023, at 04:17 TRT (01:17 UTC), a Mw 7.8 earthquake struck southern and central Turkey and northern and western Syria. The epicenter was 37 km (23 mi) west–northwest of Gaziantep.[2] The earthquake had a maximum Mercalli intensity of XII (Extreme) around the epicenter and in Antakya. It was followed by a Mw 7.7 earthquake at 13:24.[3] This earthquake was centered 95 km (59 mi) north-northeast from the first.
There was widespread damage and tens of thousands of fatalities. (Wikipedia )
The 1990 Luzon earthquake struck the island of Luzon in the Philippines at 4:26 p.m. on July 16 (PDT) or 3:26 p.m. (PST) with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.7 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent) and produced a 125 km-long ground rupture that stretched from Dingalan, Aurora to Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya. The event was a result of strike-slip movements along the Philippine Fault and the Digdig Fault within the Philippine Fault System. The earthquake’s epicenter was near the town of Rizal, Nueva Ecija, northeast of Cabanatuan.[6] An estimated 1,621 people were killed,[7][8] most of the fatalities located in Central Luzon and the Cordillera region.
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake with an intensity of 8 struck Casiguran, Aurora at 4:19 a.m. on Aug. 2, 1968, the most severe and destructive experienced in the Philippines then, leaving “several millions of pesos worth of damage.” Phivolcs said 270 people were killed and 261 were injured as a result of the earthquake
In conclusion, earthquakes are deadly, destructive forces that mortals like us cannot withstand.
We are frequently reminded of both the BIG ONE and the BIGGER ONE. even if only to emphasize the earthquake’s potential for destruction.
Everyone is going about their daily lives unconcerned with the possibility that the Big and Bigger Ones are approaching any minute.
Earthquake drills and even fire drills are still just normal exercises that receive no attention because they are a common occurrence.
However, the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria are a horror into which I will not go because of how deadly and destructive they are.
