In collaboration with Japan, PHIVOLCS has conducted structural integrity studies of concrete hollow block houses, one of the main building types of residential dwellings in the Philippines. They have developed a self-check for earthquake safety entitled "How Safe is Your House" that addresses vulnerability of houses based multiple factors, that allows people to evaluate the potential integrity of their own home.
One of their culturally-inspired projects was Handa...Awit...Lindol! (Ready...Sing...Earthquake!), a collection of (Karaoke-style) songs for preparedness for earthquakes and natural hazards. Since singing is a national pastime, this creative University of the Philippines Diliman funded project incorporates hazard education and music. Check out the "Pacific Ring of Fire" song, the "Intensity" song that describes the differences between the magnitudes of earthquakes, or the rock/rap style "Don't Panic" song that tells you what to have in your emergency kit! (https://soundcloud.com/up-diliman-ovcrd/sets/handa-awit-lindol)
PHIVOLCS also offers a series of hazard maps, for faults and trenches, earthquakes, earthquake-induced landslides, liquefaction susceptibility, tsunami, and volcanoes.
According to PHIVOLCS:
"The Philippines has a total of 65 seismic stations, 29 of which are manned, 30 are unmanned, and 6 volcano stations. The central operating station is located at PHIVOLCS Main Office, Diliman, Quezon City. All information is received at the Data Receiving Center (DRC), which is operated 24/7 by the Seismological Observation and Prediction Division (SOEPD)." (PHIVOLCS)
(Map from PHIVOLCS.dost.gov. ph)
The Philippines coordinates with the Global Seismographic Network, and they have shared data from their Davao station since 1994. The broadband connection from the station operated by PHIVOLCS, updates the data to the global network about every 10 minutes.
References: http://www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/images/CHB_Test_Briefing_3_0001.mp4, http://www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/images/Flyer-How-Safe-Is-Your-House.pdf, https://soundcloud.com/up-diliman-ovcrd/sets/handa-awit-lindol, http://www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=44&Itemid=300083, http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring/gsn/, http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring/operations/station.php?network=IU&station=DAV,
Amazing post here Nico, its pretty cool to know that both of our countries are islands (Cuba), but for that reason they both experience a ton of seismic activity. For that reason both of our countries establish innovative ways to protect their selves from disasters like Cuba's Ejercicio Metero procedure and the Philippine's hazardous and educational songs.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that both your country and mine (Barbados) worked with Japan in order to construct a plan for catastrophes like earthquakes. It's helpful to know that countries are able to work together on catastrophes that may occur. I also liked how your country created a song music is influential to many people and is a great way to get peoples' attention to what's going on in the country.
ReplyDeleteIn general, I think Japan and America are the leaders in earthquake related technology and research. Other countries, especially developing countries, often look to them for collaborations, for access to information, scientific resources, and new systems.
DeleteThank you for sharing your very informative and interesting post. I especially enjoyed the earthquake preparedness karaoke tracks, which are a great addition to their other strategies. I imagine they must experience strong earthquakes there, as they have a great system in place. My country, Iceland, does not have many mitigation strategies because they experience very minor earthquakes very frequently. I can't wait to see your future posts!
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