BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental Provincial Disaster Management Program Division (PDMPD) head Zeaphard Caelian yesterday denied there was a connection between the recent earthquake swarms in Sipalay City and volcanic activity of Mt. Kanlaon.
According to Caelian, all the earthquakes felt recently in Sipalay City were tectonic in origin and had no relation to the independent volcanic ground shaking of the Kanlaon volcano.
Based on the latest monitoring of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) yesterday morning, the volcano remained on Alert Level #1 with nine volcanic earthquakes recorded between 8 a.m. of Nov. 2 to 8 a.m. of Nov. 3.
The observatory in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental also noted moderate steam-laden plumes rising 200 meters from the crater and drifting northwest, while ground deformation still showed Kanlaon’s edifice still inflated.
Movement within the volcano’s four-kilometer permanent danger zone is still prohibited.
Caelian said the quakes in the southern part of the province were related to the movement of the Negros Trench located off the coast of Sipalay City and the town of Hinoba-an.
Earlier on Tuesday noon, parts of Western Visayas were jolted by a magnitude 4.1 earthquake epicentered 18 kilometers northeast of Sipalay City.
Intensity V was felt in Sipalay City and Cauayan City in Negros Occidental and Intensity IV in Hinoba-an town.
Intensity III was also recorded in Iloilo City; Jordan, Guimaras; Bayawan City, Negros Oriental; and Bago City, Negros Occidental; and Intensity II in La Carlota City and Bacolod City, Negros Occidental.
No aftershocks or damages were expected from the tremor.
Last month, the area also experienced 30 earthquake swarms with the strongest recorded magnitude at 4.6.
An earthquake swarm is a burst of earthquake activity clustered in a specific area in a short period of time due to the movement of a fault./PN
