Our tectonic plates are shifting.
Even exiting Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had her speech interrupted ahen a Magnitude 6.1 temblor rolled through Cagayan.
That must have unnerved her somewhat given how the political ground is also shifting from under her.
Indeed no one among us would want to be burried under the rubble or be swept away by earthquake-triggered tsunamis.
So let’s forget politics for a brief moment:
Our coastal villages are disasters waiting to happen.
With the Philippines’ coast line is 36,289 kilometers long, they are woefully exposed to the repeat of the tsunami that ravaged Indonesia’s Bandar Aceh in 2004.
Our archipelago sits right smack in the Pacific Ring of Fire where tectonic plates are in constant flux and volcanoes are most active.
The devastation wrought in Aceh could very well be a Philippine coastal region.
As the ground images and satellite photos show, a massive earthquake-triggered tsunami will leave nothing standing.
Close to 170,00 lives were lost here.
But can humanity just lie and wait?
No.
Vital, life saving and disaster-mitigating lessons can be and must learned.
Here’s what researchers who studied tsunami effects in Aceh, and India learned:
A study conducted after the 26th of December 2004 tsunami in 18 coastal hamlets along the south-east coast of India reiterates the importance of coastal mangrove vegetations and location characteristics of human inhabitation to protect lives and wealth from the fury of tsunami. The tsunami caused human death and loss of wealth and these decreased with the area of coastal vegetation, distance and elevation of human inhabitation from the sea. Human inhabitation should be encouraged more than 1 km from the shoreline in elevated places, behind dense mangroves and or other coastal vegetation. Some plant species, suitable to grow in between human inhabitation and the sea for coastal protection, are suggested.
Mitigating tsunami damage with mangroves
Mangroves forests are coastal ecosystems typically serve as homes for fish, crustaceans, sponges, and other sea creatures. With complex, intertwined root systems, they also prevent coastal erosion, function as a crude water filter, and serve as a natural barrier for strong currents. In normal waves, a mangrove forest can absorb 70-90% of the force of a wave. While no studies measuring how much of the impact of a tsunami-like event have been made, some rough data has been culled.
Research comparing coastal Thai towns showed remarkable differences in the amount of casualties suffered as a result of the tsunami. While the ferocity of the waves hitting the towns wasn’t reported, the difference is worth noting anyway: in a settlement with a dense mangrove forest protecting it, two people died. In a similar town with no mangrove forest, 6,000 people died.
Not surprisingly, many coastal villages are eager to plant mangrove forests to protect them in the event of another tsunami. In many cases, these are the same villages that cut down their mangroves to build prawn farms and coastal resorts. It’s not really feasible to re-plant these mangrove forests in many cases, because theses villages now rely on their prawns and coastal resorts for economic survival.
Coral reefs also helped mitigate the effect of the tsunami in many places, and though many reefs were badly damaged, authorities are looking into coastal management systems. Like mangroves, coral reefs have also been the victim of modernization: dynamite fishing damaged large swaths of the reef before the tsunami did, lessening its protective effects when the waves hit the coast.
The areas hardest hit by the tsunami are obviously still recovering. There are some troubling trends, however. In many cases, the tsunami damaged or destroyed most of the fishing vessels that villagers used. Repair and construction efforts thus far have done a remarkable job rebuilding these fleets. Unfortunately, they’ve done too good a job. In one community, there are now more fishing boats than there were before the disaster, which is troubling because fish stocks were already largely depleted before the tsunami, and they have not recovered. The over-fishing that was occurring before the disaster is likely to continue now with even greater force.
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2005/12/2227.ars
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/tsunami-mitigation-need-to-improve-coastal-ecology/124278/
We know the dangers only too well:
(The red squares mark the areas were our coral reefs are in abundance but are under threat)
1. Our coastal waters are continually over fished, both by local fishing companies and foreign fishing fleets poaching our waters;
2. Blast fishing destroys our coral reefs which are not only natural treasures but are protective barriers to rampaging waves;
3. Our environmental protection entities and disaster management offices, national and local, are woefully ill-prepared and lack the needed political will.
Humbly proposed: a multi-partisan initiative for a comprehensive coastal protection and tsunami-mitigation system.
OUR LIVES DEPEND ON IT.
Popularity: 3% [?]
good one ding on your humble proposals but?????
Next admin na ito possibleng mangyari… mahabaan planning at trabaho kailangan.
With the CBCP trying to ban condoms, the Philippines has the best resource against tsunamis – a human wall.
Kapit bisig nating salubungin ang Philippines 2020. Onward to First world Status 160 Million Filipinos.
no politics daw nash… if you think about it, many will die from these deadly tsunamis. in 2020, there will be no more pinoys?
solved na problema ni nash sa overpopulation, wala na ring away tungkol paggamit ng condom, hindi na kelangan condom.
Among others:
1. A massive planting of mangroves along our coastal areas;
2. No nonsense coral reef preservation and ‘regrowing’ of those areas which have been destroyed by human activities;
3. Full modernization of our Coast Guard, and Navy;
4. Crafting of more responsive laws to address the dangers cited above;
5. CLEAN GOVERNMENT.
Ding,
I think the re-planting of mangroves and reef preservation are very small steps compared with proper warning signals, disaster response mechanisms, and even zoning that reflects the impending danger from global warming: rising seas, more intense storms, and changing microclimates (repeats of the raging rivers that were seen in Manila during Ondoy, or rice and electricity shortates).
The effort needs to be much bigger than tsunami mitigation.
Joe
Surely. First things first.
Mangrove planting is slowly being pursued even by schools like CSB.
Baby steps. The onus is for the adults to get off their fat, smug asses.
Ding,
For years the country has been in dire need of regulations – from the logging industry to the fishing industry. No one complies, no one implements and everyone makes business out of it at the expense of nature itself. Replanting isn’t a popular science for those who wants instant riches abounding. Reef rescue, fishing regulations – nothing has been done nor implemented. Its time we had a strong hand to make sure the regulations are implemented AND FOLLOWED to the letter. Accountability at the lowest levels should really be observed to send a strong message that corruption and not following the rules will cost an arm and a leg in this country – its the only way for the country to shape up.
As for Disaster planning and Risk Management mitigation – its all for show.. how can they plan for Disasters when they can’t even get themselves organized, its already a disaster to begin with. Our government is popular for band-aid solutions. Because being pro-active doesn’t apply, it does not compute and no one wants to spend on something they think “won’t likely happen” risking everyone’s lives in the process.
Look at the Marikina and Antipolo fault line – did anyone even heed the warnings of the gone-too-soon Punongbayan? No. There are hundreds of homes erected over this fault line and when the “big one” hits and centers on that fault line – is it the govt’s fault if hundreds of people die? Yes and No. Yes because they allowed structures to be built there and No because people are just plain bull headed.
Disasters are only bad when lives are lost. Maybe its time to tell them to either move upshore, to higher grounds and ask people to relocate esp those living in fault lines… but then we’ll see who’s more bullheaded over safety and disaster management.
Cultural or simply because of this devil may care mindset?
Fatalistic. We do have a saying “Bathala na!” = Bahala na!
Korek. But we must break out from this thought box.
We can’t because we are a catholic country and through prayers and the intercession of the saints we will reach first world status.
Populating our shorelines with dense mangroves is not a real answer in mitigating devastation effect of tsunamis. Mangroves along coastline may probably tone down low amplitude tsunamis to a certain degree. Besides, by nature (topography, shore type, etc) you can’t just have dense mangroves all along our shorelines. Moreover, Tsunami’s force (velocity and amplitude) vary. Dense mangroves wont have any effect to storey high tsunamis. But mangroves are indeed very good for the environment. As Joe said, state of the art, advanced monitoring and warning signals, disaster response mechanisms, and even zoning are far more important to mitigate Tsunami related destructions.
Most prone to destructive tsunamis are shorelines facing the open Pacific Ocean. Aceh and Phuket were facing the Indian Ocean
What we really need to seriously consider is how important EDUCATION is. There is a serious need to establish and continuously upgrade our technology in all fronts. We need to put more effort to excel in various sciences. Too many dirty lawyers too few good scientists
We have to establish our nuclear energy technology before we talk about putting up nuclear power plants. We need to establish and update our knowledge in managing our environment..
Yes, before we can do this…we need to CLEAN not pnly our government but also our ranks…
Even if just say half of our 36,000 kilometer-lond coast is really tsunami prone, the actions needed to strengthen them would save millions of lives and billions of pesos worth of property. No use just sitting on our hands…
The cost to replant mangroves is not prohibitive compared to the benefits. Firstly, it gives immediate jobs to the residents and eventually restores marine life and sustains the livelihood source of the community. I think this is a first priority. For the meantime, let us piggyback on the climate forecasting and tectonic movements analysis of our progressive neighbors, which, by the way we are now doing, until we can afford our own.
If you believe in the Christian Bible. These earthquakes are the
signs of the coming of the “End of our Era” on our Planet Earth.
The Christian Bible states: “There will be Earthquakes on various
places. ” Whatever you believe. If you trace the Natural History of our Planet Earth. From the devastation of an Asteroid that hit this Planet Earth. That made the Dinosaurs extinct. To the eruption of Mt. Krakatoa in Indonesia. That clouded the atmosphere for many months. Making the weather cycle of this Planet unstable. So, buckle your seatbelts. It will really be a bumpy ride for all of us!
“there will be earthquakes on various places” is a general statement that is true. you don’t need the bible to know that.
if you believe in the christian bible too much, it is also possible to bear a child without semen getting into your vagina.
Being agnostic aside, we must act for our own safety, today and tomorrow.
bible aside…it is a matter of responsibility…
There ought to be a way all former secretaries of the DENR be made accountable were indeed evidence of environmental degradation exists.
Remember those names: Atienza, Defensor?
There have yet to be a field of science where forensic analysis can be done. In other words, let us leave it to forensic specialists in the field of environmental science to tell us whether there had been department policies that have in fact, contributed to our almost total environmental degradation and destruction.
Then we make people accountable and meet them with penalties.
when was the last time the DENR secretary had a technical/science background rather than being a retiree or previous election loser?
Nash,
Yes, 2 + 2 does equal 4. Mediocrity in places of influence cannot generate excellence.
When the rest of the nation wakes up to this, especially young people who aspire for a career, this method of inbred mediocrity will be done away with.
Joe
Oh yes, Mike Defensor indeed. But I see his tentacles r everywhere, even here.
Prophet Ding, may your pearly proposals land on the table of the powers-that-be and not on the floor of the pigsties.
Hi Les. not prophesying. Just waving a red flag. :)
Good post, Ding! :-)
I observe a lot of anti-christian sentiments here recently. or is it just anti-”anything”? LOL. Lack of anything to support for or to yearn something for something positive in their lives? A pity.
Edward,
I suppose we all have our oxen to gore, or is it Karabau; for you, it is America, for me, the Catholic Church when it refuses to act on behalf of the people, but instead renders its 16th century manly interpretation of God’s wisdom as if it still applied in an era when man is cloning sheep and . . . oh yes, man’s body parts. Stem cell research . . . good or bad? Saves lives or ends lives?
These are very human problems, and to overlay some guess at God’s will is rather arrogant. Jesus was not caught in such rigid boxes. But priests are.
Joe