PRIMER ON THE 15 October 2013 Magnitude 7.2 BOHOL EARTHQUAKE Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology – Department of Science and Technology Wednesday, 16 October 2013 Q; Why do earthquakes occur in Bohol? A; Bohol Island is one of the seismically active areas in the country. Instrumental monitoring of earthquakes for the past century has detected many small to moderate-magnitude earthquakes in Bohol Island. There is at least one known earthquake generator on the island, the East Bohol Fault. In addition, there are other local faults which can be sources of small to large magnitude earthquakes. Earthquakes can also occur offshore or undersea because of local offshore faults near the island or trenches in the vicinity of the region. Q; Can these present earthquakes indicate volcanic activity? A; No. There are no volcanoes in Bohol Island. Q; What can we expect from the current earthquake activity? A; The current seismic trend indicates that the magnitude 7.2 earthquake on 15 October 2013 is the main shock, and the succeeding small magnitude earthquakes are the aftershocks. Aftershocks are expected, some of which will be felt. These may continue for weeks to months, but diminishing in number and strength as time passes. In this case, a higher magnitude earthquake related to this event is no longer expected to occur. Q; Aside from strong ground shaking, what other seismic hazards are life-threatening? A; Landslides, rock falls, and other types of mass movement may occur in mountainous or hilly areas. Liquefaction, manifested by sandboils or lateral spreading may affect low-lying, water-saturated, sandy areas near the coast or at the banks of rivers. In general, since the destructive earthquake occurred inland, no tsunami was generated.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 02:35:27 +0000
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