TACLOBAN CITY — The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) reiterated its call on Thursday for Eastern Visayas residents to prepare for a major earthquake, warning that the Central Leyte fault remains “ripe” for destructive ground shaking.
During the Maghanda Summit at the Leyte Convention Complex in Palo, DOST-Phivolcs senior science research specialist Jeffrey Perez said the 100-kilometer segment of the fault has not moved in more than a century.
The fault stretches from Burauen, Leyte, to Saint Bernard, Southern Leyte, and is capable of generating a magnitude 7.1 earthquake.
“There have been no movements of this fault since the Spanish colonization. It is capable of generating a magnitude 7.1 earthquake that will affect not just Leyte, but other parts of Eastern Visayas,” Perez said.
The segment is linked to a 24-kilometer fault line that moved on July 6, 2017, killing four people and injuring more than 100 in Kananga and Ormoc City.
The Leyte Island fault line forms part of the 1,200-kilometer Philippine Fault Zone, a major tectonic feature cutting across the archipelago from Luzon to Mindanao.
This left-lateral strike-slip fault has produced large historical earthquakes, including the 1990 Luzon quake and the 2003 Masbate quake.
Experts stressed that the high seismic risk posed by the zone requires detailed active fault maps as essential datasets for hazard mitigation.
DOST Secretary Renato Solidum explained that tectonic pressure continues to build up because friction locks the rocky surfaces of the faults.
“Energy stored increases if it doesn’t move; at some point, it surpasses the friction threshold, leading to sudden movement and earthquakes,” he said.
Solidum urged residents to prepare for a local version of the “Big One,” noting that active faults exist in every province.
He identified the Philippine Trench and the Philippine Fault Zone as the country’s two primary sources of major seismic activity. (PNA)
