A study conducted by the University of the Philippines-National Institute of Geological Sciences (UP-NIGS) revealed that Romblon Island is at risk of landslide in the magnitude of what Southern Leyte’s St. Bernard town experienced this year if it is hit by excessive rainfall or a strong earthquake.
UP-NIGS professor Dr. Carla Dimalanta said that based on their study, a collision between the Palawan Microcontinental Block and the seismically-active Philippines Mobile Belt will affect the Romblon Island Group (RIG).
The study was entitled "Geophysical, Geological and Geochemical Investigations on the Arc-Continent Collision Zone in the Romblon, Tablas and Sibuyan Islands, Romblon Province."
"(There was an) assessment of possible geologic and other hazards (in the Romblon Island Group)," Dimalanta said.
According to Dimalanta, the group found shattered rocks in the island province, a very important factor which could trigger a landslide similar to what happened to barangay Guinsaugon, St. Bernard on Feb. 17 following days of heavy rainfall.
"Matigas ang rocks pero because of the fault and structures, naging shattered yung rocks," Dimalanta said, adding that the island province also have steep slopes which make them at risk of landslides.
She said that the group is planning to talk with officials of the province to prepare the residents against these natural disasters.
"The provincial government can incorporate (this study in) coming up with disaster mitigation plan and land use plan," Dimalanta said.
In their executive summary, the researchers said, "This study identified some potential natural hazards, which may pose risk on the Romblon Island Group. These include meteorological-, volcanological-, and seismic-related hazards, the most notable of which are rain-induced and earthquake-induced landslides, tsunamis and tornadoes.
"The appropriate mitigating measures such as a hazard preparedness and awareness program must be put into place by the provincial and local government units."
The study, said to be "the first integrated geological, geochemical and geophysical investigation of a collision-related feature," has also found that Palawan island and some smaller islands had been "separate from the Philippine archipelago" since the rocks in the other parts of the country are different from that in Palawan."
Dimalanta said that Palawan rocks are a fragment of Mainland Asia.
"This is a significant finding in the history of the country," she said.
She said Romblon Island had been included in the study since geologists believe that it is part of the Palawan Microcontinental Block.
The study, funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) and monitored by the agency’s Philippines Council for Industry and Energy Research and Development (PCIERD), started late in 2004 and ended last December, Dimalanta said.
The professor said that after the completion of the study, the group will analyze Romblon groundwater resources this summer while another collision aspect study will be done on Buruanga in Panay island also within this year.
The landslide in barangay Guinsaugon have buried alive some 2,000 people, including elementary pupils, last February.
Dimalanta earlier had said that Southern Leyte’s relatively loose volcanic rocks, thick soil cover, fractured and fragmented Philippines Fault Zone segment, hydrothermal alteration, and too much rain caused the landslide in Guinsaugon.
by: Madel R. Sabater
