EDITORIAL - The other calamity

As in other calamities, the places that have managed to avoid the worst coronavirus disease 2019 contagion and at the same time avoid economically ruinous lockdowns are those that prepared early and efficiently for the pandemic, notably South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Without waiting for advisories from the World Health Organization or more information from Beijing on the extent of China’s newest public health problem, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong initiated, as early as January, mass COVID-19 testing, required the public to wear face masks, boosted contact tracing supported by digital apps starting at airports, prepared isolation and quarantine facilities, and imposed various levels of physical distancing.

With the Philippines now preoccupied with battling COVID-19, the country should not overlook the other dangers that call for constant preparedness. The typhoon season is just a few weeks away, and physical distancing can quickly fly out the window in the typical disaster evacuation center.

Over the weekend, the country was reminded of yet another disaster that can strike any time. At 3:18 a.m. on Sunday, Metro Manila and neighboring provinces were rocked by a magnitude-5.4 earthquake whose epicenter was located 22 kilometers northeast of Lubang in Occidental Mindoro. Fortunately, no damage or injury was reported. The quake was strong enough to rouse people from sleep and make them rush out of several buildings in Metro Manila amid the COVID curfew and quarantine.

Seismologists have been warning that Metro Manila is ripe for the “big one” – a powerful shifting of the Marikina Valley Fault that could unleash apocalyptic death and destruction in the National Capital Region and parts of Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite and Laguna.

Since the warning was issued a few years ago, various government agencies have been boosting earthquake response capabilities and protocols. Even with the country focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, earthquakes pose a constant threat. Those earthquake preparedness measures must be constantly revisited to ensure their timely activation in case the worst scenario materializes.