2nd QUARTER 1st PRE-ACTIVITY

Ganilyn D. Ponciano. STEM 12 – A DISASTER RISK REDUCTION

1. (For areas where learners have internet access) Search the internet for any article/ material
about a major earthquake occurrence. Better if the earthquake that occurred affected the local
area. Submit a 1-page report describing this event (When, What happened, Effects to people
and surroundings). Download photos of impacts/effects/damages?

1976 August 17 Ms8.1 Moro Gulf Earthquake

A few minutes after the last stroke of midnight on August 17, 1976, a violent earthquake occurred in the
island of Mindanao spawning a tsunami that devastated more than 700 kms of coastline bordering Moro
Gulf in the North Celebes Sea. This offshore event generated by Cotabato trench, a less prominent
trench system in the Philippines, was the largest tsunamigenic earthquake to have occurred in
Mindanao in the last two decades. It was an earthquake that resulted in massive destruction of
properties and great loss of lives. The tsunami generated contributed immensely to the devastation. The
cities and provinces of Cotabato took the brunt of the earthquake while the tsunami generated cast its
doom on the provinces bordering Moro Gulf especially on the shores of Pagadian City. According to
surveys during the event, the tsunami was responsible for 85% of deaths, 65% of injuries and 95% of
those missing. After the sea spent its fury and rolled back to its natural flow, thousands of people were
left dead, others homeless or missing and millions of pesos lost with the damages of properties.
Properties lost not only include establishments for residential and commercial use, but also bancas that,
as a whole, represents the livelihood of hundreds of families.

Date of Event: 17 August 1976

Time: 12:11 A.M. (Local)

Epicenter 06.3° N, 124.0° E

Magnitude 7.9

Tsunami damage north of Zamboanga

 Residential damage at Malabang due to
surges in Mataling River.

Tsunami damage on Bongo Island

FORESHOCKS

Analysis of seismic records for August 1976 prior to August 17 of the same year showed that there were
six events recorded that had epicenters in the same area as the main shock and could be considered as
foreshocks of the Moro Gulf earthquake. Also, about a month before that, two quakes were reportedly
felt in Zamboanga City that also had epicenters near the area of the main shock. These two events were
not recorded at the PAGASA Observatory in Quezon City nor in any of its field stations. This brings to
eight the total number of foreshocks, three of which are felt events with intensities ranging from I to IV.
(Stratta et.al., 1977)

AFTERSHOCKS

There were approximately forty (40) aftershocks that were plotted using available data from the seismic
network of PAGASA. But it was reported that more aftershocks were felt and recorded locally most of
which were felt in the area with Rossi-Forel intensities of up to Intensity VI. Aftershocks in Cotabato City
were monitored by the Commission on Volcanology (now Philippine Institute of Volcanology and
Seismology) and during the span of time that the aftershocks were monitored, an average of about 140
aftershocks per day were recorded. Monitoring started on the 18th of August 1976 using a three
component Hosaka seismograph and a single-component Kinemetrics seismometer.
COTABATO CITY

DAMAGE TO BUILDINGS

1. SCHOOLS

 COTABATO CHINESE SCHOOL GYMNASIUM

A reinforced concrete and wood structure built in 1962. Its walls fell outward during the earthquake and
the roof fell in.

 ADMINISTRATION BUILDING

This is a two-story building (designed for three stories) with reinforced concrete frame built in late 1973.
The building suffered little damage on some of its walls. A pile foundation had been used.

 THE TECHNICAL SCHOOL

A two-story building built in 1965. It had a concrete frame with a concrete two-way slab floor. This
building was linked to an adjacent building by a common wood canopy. Damage to the structure was
moderate. The first story columns and fins were damaged at the head and sill levels and the canopy
collapsed at its end bay.
  HARVADIAN COLLEGE

The campus includes several buildings but only a partially collapsed five-story structure was
investigated. The building was built in 1962. It had reinforced concrete frame with reinforced concrete
slabs at the second level and at the exterior walkways at the third, fourth and fifth levels. The fifth story
was constructed completely of wood and the roof had GI sheeting. The building was reportedly designed
for three stories with the fourth and fifth floor added later with no strengthening of the lower stories.

Cracking of slabs on grade at Harvadian College.

Two storey collapse at Harvadian east end

 Shear failure at top of first storey interior columns

Vertical fracture of first storey column at southeast corner

  NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY

This University is located on Notre Dame Avenue approximately 1.5 km southeast of the downtown
area. The site has wet and soft marshy ground. Ground water appeared to be very near the surface as
ponds were evident throughout the site.

Slab damage, Notre Dame Residence Hall

Notre Dame Auditorium

  THE AUDITORIUM AND SCIENCE BUILDING

This is a 48 x 30 m auditorium crossed at its entrance by a three-story 51 x 12 m science wing. It had

reinforced concrete frame with masonry infills built in 1969. The roofs of the auditorium and science
wing had the same elevation. After the earthquake, a fire broke out in the science wing. Its first and
second story columns sustained heavy damage. The long span beams also have heavy cracks. After the
fire had burned for several hours, the science wing collapsed. The auditorium suffered heavy fire
damage. The roof trusses in the stage area sagged heavily due to the intense heat. Large areas of the
trusses dropped simultaneously. The infilled walls did not suffer structural damage but the entrance of
the auditorium was destroyed when the science wing collapsed.

Science Wing and Auditorium

Science Wing after Collapsed

 2. HOTELS and RESTAURANTS

 D’MAX RESTAURANT

A two-story building constructed in 1968. It was a combination of reinforced concrete and wood. The
building collapsed completely. (Go to Amicus Building for additional information.)

 SAGUITTARIUS HOTEL

A four-story structure with reinforced concrete frame built in 1965. The building collapsed completely.
(Go to Amicus Building for additional information.)

Collapsed Amicus Building, Saguitarius

Hotel and D'Max Restaurant

 MELBOURNE HOTEL

A three-story building with reinforced concrete frame with masonry infilled panels built in 1970. The
first story suffered a permanent offset to the south after the quake and its columns sustained heavy
damage. On the east side of the building, the panels were pushed out and window infills in its
mezzanine floor buckled outward.

Mezzanine storey damage on the east

side of Melbourne Hotel.
  NEW SOCIETY HOTEL

A four-story reinforced concrete frame building with shear walls and reinforced concrete slabs for its
floors and roof. It was built in 1968. It is located within 30 m of Rio Grande and its elevation is 2 m below
street level. The columns were founded on woodpiles with reinforced concrete pile caps. The pile cap
and water table were nearly coincidental. Proximity of the river and the high water table would suggest
a very strong ground shaking but there had been factors that ruled out this possibility and instead, flaws
in the structure were considered as the principal causes of failure. The building collapsed as the building
twisted in a counterclockwise motion; the northwest corner of the second floor dropped down to the
street; and the opposite southeast corner suffered torsional failure of the corner pilaster and out-of-
plane shearing of the adjacent walls. The frame and walls above the first story was practically
undamaged.

North side of New Society Hotel during New Society Hotel after the earthquake.
construction

X
Shear failure in mezzanine columns. Top of first storey columns.
  SULTAN HOTEL

A five-story building that suffered collapse of the first floor. The collapse of the building must have been
slow because the portion above the second floor remained intact.

Sultan Hotel after the earthquake.

Sultan Hotel

3. CHURCH

 TAMONTAKA CATHOLIC CHURCH

A structure made of unreinforced brick walls with interior timber columns and wooden roof said to have
been built by the Spaniards around 1872. It was built on soft marshy soil. Before the earthquake, the
building already had some structural cracks that could be either due to a previous earthquake or a
differential settlement. The church suffered severe damage.

Tamontaka Church before the earthquake. Tamontaka Church after the earthquake.
 4. OTHERS

 FIRST GIFT AND BOOKSTORE

A four-story building built around 1968 to 69 with reinforced concrete frame resting on a timber pile
foundation. This was also known as the Yap building after its owner. The first floor of this building
collapsed during the initial earthquake tremor and fire broke out within the structure. Five to six
hours later, the structure collapsed completely. It was noted that this structure leaned into an
adjacent three-story building knocking it into a third building, the City Evangelical Church. Damage
to the church was light.

 SOUTH SEAS TRADING

This was a three-story building built in 1967. It had a concrete frame and floor slab. This building
completely collapsed.
  WATERFRONT WAREHOUSES

A large number of warehouses were located at the edge of Rio Grande west of Manday River. They look
like they were made of masonry walls, timber trusses, and corrugated GI sheets. They were poorly built.
All of the warehouses collapsed.

 MELINEEN BUILDING

A two-story reinforced concrete building that pancaked.

 5. DAMAGE TO BRIDGES

 QUIRINO BRIDGE

This is a four-span structural steel bridge over the Rio Grande. Each span is 40 m long. The second
span from the south end collapsed into the river during the earthquake. The third span from the
south end nearly collapsed and cracks appeared several centimeters below the base of the south
abutment.

Ground cracking near Quirino Bridge,

 TAMONTAKA BRIDGE
This bridge spans about 230 m across Tamontaka River
approximately 6 kms south-southwest of Cotabato City.
The bridge is made up of six spans resting on pile-
supported piers. The girders, piers and piles are made of
reinforced concrete. The bridge was constructed in
three sections. After the earthquake, the center section
moved east and west in excess of 38 cm each way
evidenced by the broken concrete keepers on each end
of the supporting piers. The northern section moved
even greater distances. The southern section moved but
with lesser distance. There was damage to the railings at
the abutments and the expansion joints.
 ZAMBOANGA CITY

Fourteen buildings in this City of Flowers were partially damaged while twenty-six buildings sustained
minor damage. The City Hall bore noticeable cracks along its façade. Ateneo de Zamboanga sustained
failures at the sill level of its columns on the fourth floor due probably to poor concreting and column
weakening because of water seepage from the GI downpipes embedded in the columns. Zamboanga
Agricultural and Engineering College sustained damage to columns due to failure at end moments.
Zamboanga City was spared from the onslaught of the tsunami on account of the strategic geographic
location of Basilan and Santa Cruz Islands that served as buffers and deflected the waves that otherwise
could have inflicted heavy damage along Zamboanga City's coastline. Damage in buildings consisted
mostly of cracks on its masonry walls and insufficient lateral ties in some columns.

PAGADIAN CITY

The coastal districts of Santa Lucia, Santiago, San Pablo, San Roque and White Beach Barangay were
hardest hit by the tsunami. Almost all of the houses along the coast within 500 meters inland were
destroyed. Some houses made of reinforced concrete hollow blocks were able to withstand the force of
the waves and also served as protection to other house made of light materials. The approach to the
Pagadian City wharf settled down, causing cracks in the slabs of the approach area and in the concrete
deck. The five-story reinforced concrete building of Saint Columban College had noticeable cracks in the
masonry infilled walls. Shear cracks in two columns were observed at the junction.

DAMAGE DUE TO TSUNAMI

Just after the earthquake stopped, the sea, stirred by the powerful movement of the earthquake,
swelled and moved away from the coastline for about three kilometers. About ten minutes later, it
roared back to the shore and beyond in three succeeding waves soaring as high as the treetops
according to some reports. The sea unloaded its fury on everything near the shore. Houses and
properties along the coastal beaches of Lanao del Sur and Pagadian were practically washed out. Bits of
houses littered the sea and bodies littered the shore. The casualties and victims of the earthquake and
tsunami numbered thousands just in Regions 9 and 12. (Region 9 covers Pagadian City, Zamboanga del
Sur, Zamboanga City, Basilan, and Sulu while Region 12 covers the areas of Sultan Kudarat,
Maguindanao, Cotabato City, Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte.) A tabulation of the victims and
casualties in these regions is as follows.
 

Area Dead Missing Injured Homeless*

Region 9 1,440 909  7,701  49,848

Region 12 3,351 1,379  2,227  43,534

*Some of the data in this section was estimated at 6 members per family
The major cause of the great number of casualties during the event could be attributed to the fact that
(1) the tremor happened just after midnight when most people were sleeping; (2) a great tsunami was
spawned, struck the coasts from different directions and caught the people unaware.