Tsunami warning caused thousands of Filipino families to flee their homes
Hundreds and thousands of families living in coastal areas in the Philippines evacuated their homes after Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) issued a Tsunami warning. Phivolcs forecasted that 19 provinces on the archipelago’s eastern seaboard are at risk of being hit by tsunamis. Tsunami warnings were issued by Phivolcs after the Chile registered an 8.8 magnitude earthquake. The Chief of Phivolcs Renato Solidum said that the first waves would arrive between 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. (0500 GMT and 0630 GMT). It is expected that the waves would not be higher than 1 meter.
Residents of Barangay Buhatan, Santo Domingo has refused to evacuate. They have undergone nationwide tsunami drill in 2005 and claim to know what to do in case the tsunami hits their village. The Philippine Coast guard has cancelled all sea travels in Albay and Catanduanes. The cancellation of sea travel from 11 a.m. to 4p.m. originating from Batangas port has left 200 passengers and 30 vessel stranded. The vessels were bound for Occidental Mindoro, Calapan, Abra de Ilog and Oriental Mindoro. Approximately 10,000 people in Siargao surfing resort in the Mindanao group of islands has seek higher ground as a precaution to the Tsunami alert.
At around 1 p.m. on Sunday, waves reached the eastern seaboard of the Philippines but have subsided two hours later.
It is fortunate that the Tsunamis were not as devastating as expected. Some evacuees has started returning to their homes after the tsunami warning was lifted while others decided to stay another night to be on the safe side.
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