Zambales gears up for the ‘Big One’

Subic Bay Freeport — Citing recent high-intensity earthquakes across the country, the Zambales Provincial Government is accelerating preparations for the potential “Big One” — a massive earthquake expected to devastate Metro Manila and surrounding provinces.

The province is hosting a three-day training-workshop focused on peace and order and public safety plan formulation, which kicked off Monday at the Travelers Hotel.

Governor Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said a primary focus of the session is on preparation and immediate response by pertinent government agencies should a major disaster strike Zambales.

“The meeting aims to strengthen the coordination between the local government and national government, and ensure that all municipal governments of the province are prepared during the crisis,” Ebdane said.

The “Big One” is the popular term for a hypothetical magnitude 7.2 earthquake expected to hit Metro Manila along the West Valley Fault. As Zambales is in a seismically active region, Ebdane stressed the need for a localized plan.

“While Metro Manila might have formulated their own contingency plan for the ‘Big One,’ Zambales should also have its own contingency plan, too, citing that the landscape and the situation of the people in the metro and in the province are different,” Ebdane said.

The province is developing a three-tiered contingency plan for the earthquake and its possible aftermath, which includes a tsunami threat along the rugged West Philippine Sea coastline.

It involves Intelligence Gathering and Forecasting to collect information and anticipate events, Target Hardening for physical and logistical preparation for the disaster, and Incident Management to handle the damages and repercussions after the event.

Approximately 200 participants are attending the workshop, including local chief executives, disaster risk reduction management officials from the provincial and municipal levels, police, fire officials, hospital chiefs, and engineering and financial personnel.