MANILA, Philippines - After a powerful earthquake and hundreds of aftershocks, fresh jitters are spreading among residents of Bohol and Cebu over reports that sinkholes are forming in the provinces.
Government scientists said yesterday they would send teams next week to verify the reports of sinkholes, which in other countries have swallowed up entire houses.
A 15-meter-wide sinkhole was reported in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu, but Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) regional director Ador Canlas yesterday said he has not yet discovered any sinkholes.
“What we have here are road cuts and road slips,” Canlas said.
Sinkholes have also been reported in Calape and Getafe in Bohol, but Canlas said he assessed the damage in Getafe last Thursday.
“It was not a sinkhole. The concrete gave way and there was seepage. There was liquefaction and it resulted to a movement in the concrete,” Canlas said.
An alternate route for motorists has been arranged in Getafe, he said.
Canlas said he would have to re-inspect the damage in Calape.
Meanwhile, a team of three government geologists would begin mapping the location of reported sinkholes in Bohol next week, Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Director Leo Jasareno said. “The findings will be made available to local government units. They can use these to warn residents,” he said.
A sinkhole that reportedly destroyed at least five houses was a natural depression that had widened over time as limestone deposits eroded underneath, Jasareno said.
Damage now over P500 M
The DPWH and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported yesterday that damage caused by the strong quake that rocked Central Visayas has reached P563.66 million. The amount includes damage to critical infrastructure like roads, bridges and flood control facilities in Cebu City and neighboring Bohol.
Ernesto Gregorio, an official of the DPWH, told reporters at a press briefing Thursday that Bohol and Cebu City sustained P546.01 million and P17.6 million in damage, respectively. Gregorio said 21 bridges are still not passable while three are hardly passable in Bohol, Cebu and Negros Oriental.
Audit of buildings
President Aquino yesterday said he had been informed by Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson that there is an ongoing audit on the compliance of buildings with the Building Code.
“The DPWH, led by Secretary Singson, together with the Department of Science and Technology, especially the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, have been conducting training, seminars and audits to increase building resiliency in the face of earthquakes,” Aquino said.
He said retrofitting may be necessary, particularly for old buildings.
“Retrofitting need not be such a major expense, so it’s doable. We will be able to increase resiliency even for very old buildings that were built under a very different code,” he said, noting that the latest Building Code is dated 2010.
Aquino said the government may also have to summon municipal engineers who built the Mandaue public market and its adjacent buildings, including the provincial capitol, whose structural integrity may have been compromised.
“I’m not an engineer nor an architect but it didn’t look to me like a very good construction. I’m having it investigated,” Aquino said.
The President said he noticed when he conducted an ocular inspection there that the reinforcing bars were very thin.
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