Negros Quake, Disaster from the Unknown

When I first heard about the news from my older sister regarding of what had happened in the Northern part of Negros, I was surprised to know that there was actually no particular fault line declared and suspected before in the said affected area. In point of fact, before I read the article of my Professor in my Geology 1 class, I theorized and argued to my sister that it may not have been a “miraculous” disaster which God created to vanish all the evil deeds and sinful persons on earth. Science is not yet done searching for what the people have to know about, that is why people still study, looking for answers to all our questions.

And that studying the earth is pertinent for us to be aware and knowledgeable on what is going on around us. Lucky enough, I am taking a geology class with a geoscientist professor who specializes in the study of active faults and earthquakes. Reading the article from the Philippine Daily Inquirer (as a required reading material in our class) by our professor, Dr. Mario Aurelio, it is very informing to know that; It is not actually a surprise that Negros Island would be hit by an earthquake of this magnitude (6. 9).

A previous large earthquake with an approximate magnitude of 8 has been associated with the Negros Trench.. Negros Oriental Earthquake cannot be explained directly by activity along the Negros Trench… There was no clear evidence of a surface ground rupture, prompting scientists immediately after the earthquake to point to a “blind” fault as the culprit. As calculated by USGS, the FMS of the Negros Oriental Earthquake indicated a thrust-fault mechanism. Since there was no ground rupture associated with it, the fault that caused the earthquake maybe more aptly called a “blind thrust fault”…

Most of the damage to infrastructure can be associated with liquefaction and ground settlement. (Philippine Daily Inquirer, Aurelio 2012) Drawing by this passage, I can actually say that science is science. We still have to have a number of scientists to know and search about the “unknowns” in the earth we live in. On the other hand, even if science still have to extend their study unto these matters, we, as dwellers on earth, have to be aware and careful of what we do. Human activities still have succeeding positive and as well as negative implications on the surface we inhabit.

Spate of disasters already have disturbed and killed thousands of lives, but we still don’t have the urge to be careful in our unmindful actions. Yes, it is true that government agencies provide us enough warnings and precautions to avoid such unexpected disasters, but it is perceptively evident that we are still not sick of those. Surely, number of unexpected disasters would come and surprise us. What we have to do is to be ready, and as much as possible, follow the safety precautions given and taught to us. It is important to sink in to our head that, prevention is better than cure.