NAIA can withstand strong quake, official says

A Philippine official assured the public that the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) – the primary hub for the country’s airlines – can withstand an earthquake as powerful as the one that struck Haiti. All three of the NAIA’s terminals undergo regular checks by structural engineers and are stable enough, Radio dzBB's Manny Vargas reported Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Alfonso Cusi as saying. But Cusi also said it is important for the NAIA's personnel to undergo regular earthquake drills so they will be prepared to act in such a calamity. Besides having enough emergency and rescue teams to respond to a powerful quake, the NAIA remains in constant coordination with hospitals in Metro Manila that can accommodate potential casualties, Cusi said. On Thursday, studies of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) indicate that Metro Manila may be hit by a potential magnitude-7.2 quake from the movement of the Marikina Fault (West Valley Fault System), Phivolcs director Renato Solidum Jr. said. Solidum admitted the possibility of a big quake since the fault has not moved in a long time, he said in a radio interview on Thursday. "Pag ang fault di kumikilos, nagiipon yan ng enerhiya. Kung umiipon ng enerhiya yan ay delikado (If a fault has been inactive for a long time, it may be building up energy and release it later on. That is potentially dangerous)," he said in an interview on dwIZ radio. In contrast, he said other faults in the Philippines, such as the one in Leyte, had moved, causing relatively weak earthquakes. - RJAB Jr./GMANews.TV