Sinkholes form after ‘quake’

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — At least four sinkholes appeared near a river at Barangay Hagtu in Mabinay town of Negros Oriental after an earthquake, of still unknown strength, occurred in the area Wednesday.

Mabinay Mayor Ernesto Uy said no damage or casualty has been reported due to the tremor, but so far at least 22 households are now in danger if the sinkholes grow bigger in size due to the continuous rain. The house nearest to the sinkholes was only 20 meters away, he said.

The mayor said a pre-emptive evacuation has been readied when necessary, and the municipal government has been monitoring the sinkholes near Malaiba River, while heavy rains already flooded the town.

Hagtu is the last village in Negros Oriental with Kabankalan City of Negros Occidental situated just about 50 meters from the bridge, said the mayor. The area where the sinkholes were found was about 60 meters away from the bridge connecting Mabinay and Kabankalan.

Uy said he received a phone call from Hagtu village officials that five hours after ground shaking was felt around 3 a.m. Wednesday, three sinkholes were first seen at the area of Malaiba River. The next day, a fourth sinkhole occurred while the first three were observed to have increased in size.

All four sinkhole formations were situated close to each other, with the biggest estimated to measure about eight inches in diameter, and the rest between two to three meters in diameter each, Uy said.

Initial investigation also showed ground crack of about eight inches outside the river bed, near where the sinkholes had formed, Uy added.

The mayor said that another concern of officials and residents in Mabinay was that the river water no longer flowed downstream, in its natural course, but went into the sinkholes instead. He said that, as of Thursday afternoon, the sinkholes were no longer visible as the waters continued to rise due to continuous rain.

Uy said monitoring will continue on the development of the sinkholes until Monday when the Mines and GeoSciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-7 sends a team over from Cebu.

Charlie Fabre, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office chief, confirmed that a team of at least three people, including geologists, from DENR-7 will be bringing with them equipment to measure the size of the sinkholes as well as to gather vital data.

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology’s seismic station in Sibulan, Negros Oriental, headed by Jose Molas, meanwhile, has no immediate available data about the reported earthquake that jolted Mabinay. (FREEMAN)