PHIVOLCS opens Iloilo’s first seismic station

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

The first seismic station in Iloilo province was inaugurated by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) at the Central Azucarrera de San Antonio (CASA) sugarcane plantation field in Brgy. Ponong Pequeño, Dueñas town.

The new station is the 115^th in the country, and completes the commitment made by the PHIVOLCS to establish 115 stations by the end of the Duterte administration.

It is a remote, unstaffed seismic station which uses satellite technology to transmit ground movement data every second to the PHIVOLCS’ Central Operations Center in Quezon City, the Tagaytay Seismic Station in Cavite, and the Mindanao Cluster Center for Earthquake and Tsunami in Davao City.

Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Undersecretary and PHIVOLCS officer-in-charge Renato Solidum said in a press conference that the Dueñas seismic station will be a good addition to other stations in Panay Island in detecting tectonic plate movements.

Other seismic stations in the island are located at Ibajay in Aklan, San Jose in Antique, and Roxas City in Capiz. There are also seismic stations in Negros Occidental and Guimaras.

He cited large earthquakes here in the past due to the West Panay Fault system, which sits on the western side of the island.

He also mentioned that Dueñas itself, when it was still named Laglag, was rocked by a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in 1787, destroying a church and killing 15 people.

“The role of the seismic station is very critical in determining what is happening in Panay, but also beyond. It actually would cover the whole country and detect large earthquakes all over the world,” Solidum said.

“It’s not for predicting an earthquake now. The purpose of the seismic station is to detect an earthquake, and the more the number of seismic stations we have, statistically, the faster we can locate where the earthquake is,” he added.

The choice of location for the site according to Solidum was based on ideal factors including distance to the other seismic stations, population density of the area, proneness to flooding, distance from human and vehicular traffic, and the willingness of the local government and private sector to partner with them.

“When we look up our earthquake monitoring network, not all areas can be selected as potential sites for a seismic station. We have existing stations in Roxas [City], Ibajay, and San Jose [in] Antique. We [didn’t] have one in Iloilo province, but we cannot make it closer to these 3 stations so it has to be somewhere, and we chose this site,” he said.

During the facility’s inauguration, Dueñas town mayor Mamerto Pelopero III thanked the PHIVOLCS for allowing their local government to “take part” in disaster preparedness.

“When the natural disaster comes, there’s no such thing being too prepared, as the saying goes. Being forewarned is [the] forefront. The establishment of this monitoring station will allow the DOST-PHIVOLCS to detect earthquake activity, at the same time to gather data that can save numerous lives with ample warning,” said Pelopero.

This new station is the latest addition to the Philippine Seismic Network (PSN) and is expected to further enhance the PHIVOLCS’ monitoring capability for faster and more accurate issuance of earthquake information to decision-makers, emergency responders, and the general public.

The PSN comprises satellite telemetered stations, staff-controlled stations, and seismic stations in volcano observatories.