Geologists Discovers 770 Sinkholes In Cebu City
The geologists have discovered about 770 sinkholes in the Cebu City proper and other sinkholes surrounding the urban area.
A sinkhole is a hole in the ground, which was caused by some form of a collapse of the surface layer. Its size varies depends on its location and types of ground. The formation of the sinkhole was caused water erosion leading to the gradual removal of soluble bedrock.
Recently, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) 7 has discovered about 800 sinkholes around the urban area of Cebu City. They found out that the soil in the city is mostly composed of limestone.
The growth of ficus balete trees and catch basin in the area where runoff water flows were some of the signs of sinkholes. MGB 7 advised the public not to panic and stay calm, then adopt mitigation measures.
MGB 7 will also urge the Office of the Building Official to ask the structural engineers to incorporate the development plans for the sinkholes as a requirement in releasing permit applications.
Nagiel Bañacia, chief of the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office will monitor the manifestation of sinkholes in the city including mountain barangays.
“The geologists saw the cracks in many of our infrastructures and they concluded that those are manifestations of sinkholes. We hope that by knowing that there are 770 sinkholes in the city proper alone, structural engineers can plan better how they will develop their projects,” said by Bañacia quoted by Sunstar.
The sinkholes were discovered after the magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck the province of Leyte.
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