College of Engineering – Civil Engineering Department CETE 543 – Earthquake Engineering

PHIVOLCS

PHIVOLCS stands for Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. This

organization is a service institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

PHIVOLCS is an organization that mitigates any possible disaster that may occur from

earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions etc.

Vision

A leading global science and technology institution in helping develop communities safe

from and resilient to volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis and other related hazards.

Mission

We provide timely and quality information and services for warning, disaster preparedness

and mitigation. This we do through the development and application of technologies for the

monitoring and accurate prediction of, and determination of areas prone to, volcanic eruptions,

earthquakes, tsunamis and other related hazards, and capacity enhancement for comprehensive

disaster risk reduction.

HISTORY

PHIVOLCS began in 1988, the organization has two predecessors. The first one is the

Philippine Weather Bureau that was created in 1901 when the services of meteorological,

seismological etc. was transferred from the Roman Catholic Church to American Colonial

Government. By 1972 the organization was reorganized under presidential decree into PAGASA

or Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration. By that time

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College of Engineering – Civil Engineering Department CETE 543 – Earthquake Engineering

PAGASA is still serving seismological mitigations. The second predecessor is the COMVOL or

Commission on Volcanology this organization was built around June in the year of 1952 by

republic act no. 766 after a major eruption of the Hibok-Hibok volcano in 1952. Under executive

order 784 of March 17, 1982 the COMVOL was reorganized into PHILVOC or Philippine Institute

of Volcanology, also the umbrella department of COMVOL was reorganized, from National

Science Development Board (NSDB) it was renamed to National Science and Technology

Authority (NSTA)

Years later, around 1984 of September the seismological arm of PAGASA was transferred

to PHILVOC renaming it to Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology or PHILVOCS

and the umbrella department of PAGASA and PHILVOCS (NSTA) was reorganized to DOST or

Department of Science and Technology in 1987.

For further information, PHIVOLCS was headed by Raymundo Punongbayan from 1982

to 2003, and it is currently headed by Renato U. Solidum Jr. from 2003 to the present.

Mandates of PHIVOLCS

PHIVOLCS predict the occurrence of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes and their related

geotectonic phenomena. It determines how eruptions and earthquakes shall occur and also areas

likely to be affected. It generates sufficient data for forecasting volcanic eruptions and earthquakes,

mitigates hazards of volcanic activities through appropriate detection, forecast and warning

system, and formulates appropriate disaster preparedness plans.

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Programs and projects

Strategic initiatives for year 2017-2022

• National Volcano Monitoring and Warning

• National Earthquake Monitoring Information

• National Tsunami monitoring and early warning

• Earthquake hazards assessment and research and development

• Volcano hazards assessment and research and development

• Landslide monitoring, early warning and risk assessment

• Volcano, earthquake and tsunami disaster preparedness and risk reduction

• Leadership Enhancement and Development (LEAD)

• Strategic Human Resource Management and Development (SHRMD)

• Strategic Performance Assessment and Development for Excellence (SPADE)

• Strategic ICT management development (StrICT)

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College of Engineering – Civil Engineering Department CETE 543 – Earthquake Engineering

Major Earthquakes zones in the Philippines

The Philippine Fault System is a major interrelated systems o faults throughout the whole

if the Philippine Archipelago, primarily cause by tectonic forces compressing the Philippines into

what geophysicists call Philippine Mobile Belt. (Wikipedia.com)

There are many fault lines in the Philippines and this fault lines are the cause of earthquakes

in the Philippines, here are the major fault lines in the Philippines.

1. Marikina Valley Fault

This fault is also known as the valley fault system and is divided into two segments, the west valley

vault and the Eastern valley fault. It extends from Dingalan, Aurora in the north and runs through

the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Bulacan and Rizal, and the Metro Manila cities if Quezon, Marikina,

Pasig, Makati, Paranaque, Taguig and Muntinlupa and the provinces of Laguna and Cavite that

ends in Tagaytay.

This fault poses the greatest danger because it passes through all the modern and progressive

portions of Manila such as Eastwood, Rockwell, Ortigas Center, Bonifacio Global City, Ayala

Center, and Alabang and it can cause an earthquake anytime soon because PhiVolcs stated that it

was about 11 years late for its movement.

2. Central Philippine Fault

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College of Engineering – Civil Engineering Department CETE 543 – Earthquake Engineering

This system of faults is found to be the locus of the great earthquakes and it is known to be a

transition zone with slow slip and creep activity. This is based on the analysis and correlation of

seismic historic data and detailed documentation of recent seismic events in the region.

The Masbate fault is the central part with large and medium earthquakes accompanied by unusually

large ground rupture. The north central leyte fault and the south central Leyte fault, on the other

hand are characterized by aseismic creep and medium-sized events, usually with cluster of

foreshocks, respectively.

This fault is the 1990 earthquake that destroyed Central Luzon and Baguio and is also the Origin

of the earthquake that Destroyed Guinsaugon.

3. Southern of Mindanao Fault

The two major fault zones that are the most dangerous in this area are the Sulu Trench in the Sulu

Sea and the Cotabato Trench, a region of subduction that crosses the Celebes Sea and the Moro

Gulf in the Southern Mindanao. According to PHIVOLCS historical catalog of earthquakes for the

last 100 years, this region of southern Philippines is characterized by moderate to high seismicity.

The most recent earthquake along the cotabato trench region of subduction being the March 6,

2002 earthquake in southern Mindanao.

This are the top 10 province that are at risk to earthquake are:

1. Surigao Del Sur

2. La union

3. Benguet

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4. Pangasinan

5. Pampanga

6. Tarlac

7. Ifugao

8. Davao Oriental

9. Nueva Viscaya

10. Nueva Ecija

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