Manila conducts citywide earthquake drill, in preparation for the big one

Manila conducts citywide earthquake drill, in preparation for the big one | Daily Tribune

The City of Manila on Friday conducted a citywide earthquake drill as it simulate the possibility that the aerea will be hit with the so-called big-one.

Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso along with Vice Mayor Chi Atienza, emergency personnel, Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (DRRMO) and other partners simulated the drill.

The mayor said he is particularly grateful to their partners for the drill aimed at preparing the residents and all the stakeholders for the big one.

“We thank our partners the Intramuros Administration for the earthquake preparation for the residents of Manila. Scientists are saying that there will be a big one thus we have to prepare activities such as this one citywide,” said Domagoso.

The mayor said they have been planning the said activity for two-months with the help of experts and usage of technology.

“We’ve been planning this for the past two months, hindi po ito ganito kadali kasi we have to prepare large number of people for this large exercise para maging safe ang mga tao, kailangan nating gawin ito para masiguro ang kaligtasan ng lahat,” the mayor said.

In October 2025, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHILVOLCS) said that the possibility of the "Big One" earthquake to strike Metro Manila increases as time moves closer to 2058.

This was explained by Phivolcs Director Teresito Bacolcol, that while it is impossible to predict the exact time the earthquake will strike the overpopulated Metro Manila, its estimate may be known based on its recurrence interval.

The "Big One" is the 7.2 magnitude earthquake predicted to bring catastrophic destruction in Metro Manila upon a big movement in the West Valley Fault, which traverses Quezon City, Marikina, Pasig, Makati, Taguig, and Muntinlupa, and also the provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, and Laguna.

The West Valley Fault’s last major movement was recorded 1658. Based on the lower boundary of its 400 to 600 years of reccurence interval, Bacolcol said its next movement may possibly happen earlier or later than 2058.