PHIVOLCS Tips on Being Prepared for Earthquakes and Tsunami

People around the world are shocked with what happened to Japan last Friday as an 8.9 magnitude earthquake occurred off the sea from the northeast part of Japan. The earthquake did not cause much damage. It is the tsunami that occurred after the earthquake that caused the damage to property, injuries and deaths. As of this moment, Japanese authorities are still assessing the actual damage and the death toll caused by the tsunami.

Minutes after the earthquake at Japan, PHIVOLCS or the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology issued Tsunami Bulletins to alert people living in the coastal areas of the north and eastern part of the Philippines of the possible waves of tsunami hitting their area. PHIVOLCS issued the warning based on the information given by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), located on Hawaii. Because of the PHIVOLCS tsunami bulletin, people living in the affected communities were easily mobilized and evacuated. Thankfully, big tsunami waves did not reach the Philippines. PHIVOLCS already removed the tsunami alert for the Philippines and the affected people returned to their communities.

For a long time now, PHIVOLCS had been warning us of the dangers of earthquakes and tsunamis. PHIVOLCS already made many studies regarding the major fault lines, especially the Marikina Fault Line. However, information regarding earthquakes and tsunami is that broadcasted widely. Aside from that, information regarding preparedness to earthquakes and tsunamis are not that widespread. With this in mind, here are the tips on how to prepare for earthquakes as written in the posters issued by PHIVOLCS.

PHIVOLCS Tips: What to Do Before an Earthquake

1. The key to effective disaster prevention is planning.

- Know the earthquakes hazards in your area.

-Follow structural design and engineering practices when constructing your house or your buildings.

- Check the soundness of your house. Strengthen or retrofit if necessary.

2. Prepare your homes, workplace and schools.

- Strap or bolt heavy furniture, like cabinets and large appliances, to the wall to prevent it from falling down during an earthquake.

- Check if hanging objects inside your home, like ceiling fans and chandeliers, are stable.

- Store fragile items, harmful chemicals and flammable materials in a secured place.

3. Familiar yourself with the exit routes in your home, workplace and school. Also, know the location of fire extinguishers and first aid kits in your area.

4. Prepare a handy emergency kit that contains canned goods, bottled water, medicines, flashlight, extra batteries and battery-operated radios.

5. Conduct and participate in regular earthquake drills.

In addition to the tips mentioned by PHIVOLCS, other useful tips that I can add are these:

6. Plan with your family about the evacuation place that family members can go to during emergency situations. Planning the evacuation areas will help in locating family members during emergency situations. This will avoid family member getting lost because they can’t be located.

7. Secure vital documents (like birth certificates, land titles, etc.) in one easy-to-carry bag so that it could easily be carried during emergency situations.

PHIVOLCS Tips: What to Do During an Earthquake

1. Be calm, be alert and don’t panic.

2. If you are inside a structurally sound building:

- Quickly open the door, if possible.

- Duck under a sturdy table or desk and hold on to it or protect your head.

- Stay away from glass windows and heavy furniture or appliances that may fall down.

3. If you are inside, move to open area.

- Stay away from trees, posts, power lines and structures.

- Stay away from steep slopes and landslide prone areas.

- Move away from the shoreline and move to higher grounds because tsunami may occur after an earthquake.

4. If you are in a moving vehicle, stop and get out. Don’t attempt to cross bridges, underpass, tunnels and flyovers.

PHIVOLCS Tips: What to Do After an Earthquake

1. Be prepared of aftershocks. Once the shaking stops, take the fastest and safest way out of the building. Don’t use elevators nor enter damaged buildings.

2. Check yourself and others for injuries.

3. Check for damaged electrical and water lines.

4. Check for spills of chemical, toxic or flammable materials.

5. Extinguish fires in the area to prevent it from spreading.

6. If you need to evacuate your residence, leave a message stating the place where you are going. Also, bring your emergency kit.

7. Keep yourself updated through your battery operated radios.

So, those are the tips written on PHIVOLCS “Earthquake Preparedness Guide.” You can download this guide from PHIVOLCS here (PDF file). Visit PHIVOLCS website for more information about earthquakes and tsunamis.

Visit my other post about PHIVOLCS' list  of fault lines, PHIVOLCS Map of Tsunami Prone Areas and PHIVOLCS map of areas affected by Marikina Fault.

CD-R King Card Reader FAIL

In an old article, I complained about CD-R King's USB extension cord with signal booster. The USB extension cord did not work so I went to Binondo Chinatown branch of CD-R King, where I purchased the product, and I tried to exchange the faulty extension to a functioning one. To make the long story short, I exchanged the faulty cord with another product just to make sure that my money is not wasted and I still get the functionality that I need.

There is another a complaint against CD-R King and my brother is the one who is complaining this time. My brother bought CD-R King's Sierra All in One Card Reader.
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CD-R King's card reader has five slots for the various kinds of card readers available. CD-R King's card reader supports CF, MS, SD, T-F and M2 memory cards. CD-R King's M Series card has USB 2.0 interface.

The card reader looks OK and cheap, that's why my brother bought it. However, when he inserted his CF memory card, he is being prompted to reformat the card. My brother is sure that the CF memory card has no problem that's why he went to CD-R King to ask for a replacement. They told him that the product is out of stock that's why they can't replace it. CD-R King doesn’t do a refund so my brother can't get his money back. In frustration, he left CD-R King and went to another shop to buy another card reader. To his surprise, he saw this:
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That is Newmen All in One Card Reader (CR-108). The features are similar with that of CD-R King's card reader but at a higher price. It seems like CD-R King copied Newmen's card reader.

CD-R King's products are indeed cheap but crappy. Whenever I need a gadget, I avoid CD-R King's products because of my bad experiences with them.

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Images taken from the websites of CD-R King and NewmenTech.
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Pasalubong

Pasalubong is a Filipino tradition of bringing home items after a vacation or a journey from faraway places. An example is whenever I travel to various places; I made it a habit to bring home some pasalubong. For instance, when I visited Mactan Island and Cebu City, I brought home broas, dried mangoes and danggit. Also, when I visited Davao, I brought home the local delicacies there like durian and durian candy.

Bringing pasalubong for your family and love ones is a good tradition because people who came from far places are bringing tokens or items that will also make the people back home experience a little bit about the place that you visited. Like many traditions, pasalubong is also abused and there are people who care more about the pasalubong than the person bringing the pasalubong.

If you are a Filipino, then I am sure that you either brought home pasalubong or received pasalubong from your family and friends.

Foods, especially sweets, are the usual pasalubong items. Other pasalubong items are key chains and other small souvenir items that are not heavy on the pocket. I have a friend who buys key chains as his pasalubong for his office mates.

What if you are in Metro Manila and you want to bring home pasalubong when you go home. Where can you find great pasalubong? Here are few of the shops that I can recommend.

1. Dolor's Kakanin - this is the shop famous for its sapin sapin, which is a kind of kakanin that is a mixture of various kakanin. Dolor's sapin sapin has ube halaya, malagkit, and other kakanin that are suitable pasalubong. Aside from sapin-sapin, Dolor's sells other kakanin like puto, kutsinta and ube halaya. Dolor’s sapin-sapin is in demand during holiday seasons like Christmas and New Year. During the holiday seasons, I suggest that you call Mommy’s Pride first to reserve a sapin-sapin. See Dolor's Kakanin website for more info about their available pasalubong.
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Dolor's sapin sapin

2. SM Hypermarkets – if you want a convenient place to buy your sweet pasalubongs, then I suggest that you visit SM Malls that have SM Hypermarkets. SM Hypermarket is the supermarket of SM Malls and they have booths there that sell kakanin and other food pasalubong.

3. Local markets – puto, kutsinta, and other kakanin can also be bought from local palengke (supermarkets) around Metro Manila. Most of the kakanin in the local markets are home-made but cheaper as compared to the ones in Mommy’s Pride and SM Hypermarkets. If you are in a tight budget, I suggest that you buy your pasalubong in the local markets.

4. Goldilocks – this is a cake shop that expanded their offerings. Now, Goldilocks also sell the usual pasalubong items like puto and kutsinta. They also have pulburon (polvoron) which is a kind of candy made from powdered milk. There are many Goldilocks shop around Metro Manila so it is convenient to buy your pasalubong there. Visit Goldilocks' website for more info.

5. House of Polvoron – if you are wishing to make pulburon (polvoron) as your pasalubong when you leave Manila, then I suggest that you buy your pasalubong in House of Polvoron. This shop sells the best polvoron in Metro Manila. The problem is that there is not much booth of House of Polvoron because they can only be found in selected malls around Metro Manila. However, I like their polvoron and their polvoron is better than the one I tasted in Goldilocks. Visit House of Polvoron website for more info.

So there! Those are some of the shops around Metro Manila where you can buy pasalubong. If you are a foreigner visiting Manila, then I suggest that you bring home our best pasalubong items, especially the kakanin. Let you family and friends have a taste of Filipino sweets.

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Visit Before the Eastern Sunset and read about the obvious bias of the Philippine media.
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