Phivolcs Responds To Claims That Mt Apo Is Waking Up
IS MT APO WAKING UP? – The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) responded to the claims that the Mindanao quakes were caused by Mt. Apo Waking up.
Recently, some netizens expressed their worry that the potentially active Mt. Apo could’ve caused the earthquakes. However, Phivolcs had dismissed these claims.
According to an article from ABS-CBN, this wouldn’t be the first time that they needed to clarify the status of the Volcano. The netizens worry stems from the fact that the Volcano is located between Davao City, Davao del Sur, and Cotabato.
All of these places were affected by a series of earthquakes in just a span of 2 months. These tremors caused serious damage to properties and have taken the lives of some residents.
As per the article, Ishmael Narag, officer-in-charge of Phivolcs Seismological Observation and Earthquake Prediction Division, those concerns could be considered.
He explained, “Because if you look at the epicenters after the 6.5 (magnitude earthquake in October) there were a lot of epicenters in the area (referring to Areas around Mt. Apo).
In an online article posted by a “science writer and geoscientist”, the author suggests that the epicenters were propagating towards Mt. Apo and Mount Talomo. However, Narag stated that the quakes do not show that same migration of clusters.
He further emphasized that in the case of Mt. Pinatubo, Phivolcs recorded a cluster of small earthquakes moving towards the main part of the volcano. Although, he did add that the recent earthquake was around the area of the fault lines.
Following this, Narag gave the public assurance that they have the tools needed to monitor Mt. Apo’s status.
“Of course, we don’t discount the possibility that there could be an eruption of Mt. Apo because it’s still considered potentially active“
Ishmael Narag
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