Tsunami to Hit Philippines - February 28, 2010

[Jundezk]

Tsunami to Hit Philippines - February 28, 2010


State seismologists on Saturday afternoon hoisted a Tsunami Alert Level 1 in the Philippines after a powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit south-central Chile on the other side of the Pacific Ocean at 3:34 a.m. Saturday (2:34 p.m. Saturday in Manila).

Reports said that the Philippine Embassy officials and staff in the capital city of Santiago were all safe. Meanwhile, the Philippine Red Cross has alerted its chapters and volunteers to monitor coastal areas.

In an interview on ABS-CBN, Renato Solidum, director of the Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), said that if the Chile earthquake did generate tsunami waves powerful enough to cross the Pacific, they may be expected to hit Philippine coastlines sometime between 1:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Sunday.


Eastern coastal communities
Based on the Phivolcs advisory, the following "coastal areas fronting the Pacific Ocean that should keep watch" are:
Batanes Group of Islands
Cagayan
Ilocos Norte
Isabela
Quezon
Aurora
Camarines Norte
Camarines Sur
Albay
Sorsogon
Catanduanes
Northern Samar
Eastern Samnar
Leyte
Southern Leyte
Surigao del Norte
Surigao del Sur
Davao Oriental
Davao del Sur
"While Tsunami Alert Level 1 means that no evacuation order is in effect, communities along the identified coasts are advised to prepare for possible evacuation. People from threatened communities are strongly advised to coordinate and follow safety instructions from the Office of Civil Defense and local disaster officials," Phivolcs said.
Solidum said a powerful earthquake that hit Chile in 1960 generated tsunamis in the Philippines 24 hours after the quake.
The tsunamis were 3 meters high in Luzon, and around 6 meters in Visayas and Mindanao. Solidum described these as not so high.
He said this may happen again with the magnitude 8.8 quake that hit Chile on Saturday.
Aurora Gov. Bellaflor Angara Castillo told dzMM early Sunday that the mayors of the province have been informed about the tsunami warning and that their contingency plans are already activate.

Evacuation centers and transportation are being prepared, she said. Hopefully, "our preparations will be sufficient," she added.

Help Us Pray!....

[krane]

thanks god false alarm ra cya.