Lessons from the 1990 Luzon earthquake

Residential units, hotels and commercial buildings spread in the city of Baguio after the 1990 earthquake, but many of its residents and officials are working to keep development under control to keep the magic of the country’s summer capital. —EV ESPIRITU

City of Baguio – Fifty five seconds was all it took 28 buildings and 130 houses to topple or crack out of repair in this city where a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Luzon mainland at 4:26 pm on July 16, 1990.

More than a thousand people were killed in this city, which was isolated for days when the earthquake severely destroyed major roads. He described hunger, thirst, and panic the first 48 hours of Baguio.

In the city of Dagupan, 75 kilometers away, the coastal sections fell suddenly. The earthquake triggered the liquefaction (waterlogged soil subsidence) that caused 90 buildings to be sunk by meters and collapsed along. 17 people were killed and more than 60 injured.

The epicenter of the earthquake was traced near the city of Cabanatuan in Nueva Ecija province, where a massive tremor rocked the six-story building of the Philippine Christian College (CCP) that surrounded hundreds of students. Records showed 154 residents, some of them due to drought, awaiting rescue.

“UKAY” SPOT Skyworld Condominium on the way to the session was condemned and demolished months after the July 16, 1990 earthquake that shook Baguio. – The picture is from EV ESPIRITU

The site where Skyworld once stood was popular with tourists as the ‘ukay-ukay’ center. —Photos from EV ESPIRITU

not ready

That tragedy generated more stories of Hasret. But it was also the story of the recovery, which could be a model for how cities and towns emerged from a coronavirus epidemic, in a column, late journalist Jose Nicholas Elagan in Baguio said that the earthquake revealed just how “insufficient and unprepared” was the face of nature’s unpredictable anger with it … [displayed] Weak man-made structures, [and] Expose cowards and opportunists. “

But disaster has become an opportunity to test and demonstrate increased social awareness [of residents and civic leaders],” He said.

“In the face of the government’s shortcomings and ineffectiveness, individuals, initiative and regulatory services have come to the fore,” added Elagan.

Reforms were immediately undertaken in Baguio, Dagupan and Cabanatuan, led by the national government and the private sector, although it took three years to complete major reforms in Baguio and Dagupan.

Civilian and Bago leaders have drawn their version of the urban plan.

Dagupan Barriers, Vehicles flying along Peres Boulevard in Dagopan City (left) are stuck in road cracks after an earthquake measuring 7.8 in Luzon on July 16, 1990. – Photo reproduction from the JCI DAGUPAN INC group.

Full closure

According to Mayor Brian Lim, the closing of Luzon in March created some problems that Dagopan residents faced 30 years ago.

Lim, first mayor, said that his father, late mayor Benjamin Lim, was a young businessman when the earthquake destroyed the Magic Supermarket and the family-owned store that opened in 1989.

“[My father] He had a slight heart attack during the earthquake, but he was not aware until the doctor told him. “We also discovered that he had diabetes,” said the younger Lim.

Days after the disaster, he said, Dagupan seemed “beyond repair.” He said, “Even my parents, who were destroyed, planned to leave and settle in the United States,” until their employees appeared and offered to help rebuild.

Downtown Dagupan is busy, with traces of devastation caused by the earthquake. – Photo reproduction from the group of JCI DAGUPAN Inc and Willie Lumbo

“Unsinkable”

Lim’s father brought together a group of businessmen and NGO leaders to rally the population behind the Dagupan revival. They put up signs saying: “Daguban don’t sink. To sink is unimaginable. Leaving is impossible. To rebuild we will do it forever.”

He convinced the PRT to prioritize the rehabilitation of the public market, the core of the city’s trade.

The younger Lim said: “In 1990, there was no Internet, so the general impression at that time was that Dagupan had died and would not recover.”

consulting services

The deadly earthquake destroyed many buildings, but CCP in Cabanatuan drew most of the attention due to the 20 dead there. Like Dagupan, local companies immediately started rehabilitation efforts.

Dr. Elysio Guerrero, who had advised services while he was the Vice Chancellor of the city-based Aarawulo University, said the victims of critical trauma needed to “extract the stress from serious accidents” which was necessary to restore Cabanatuan.

He said that among his wards were students who were either trapped under the rubble or witnessed the tragedy.

Architect Jun Dawang, who designed a new school building, said the companies involved in the reconstruction are following strict building regulations to ensure no more structures fall in the event of another earthquake.

Malacanang’s account of the earthquake highlights the young Robin Garcia who survived the collapse of the CPC building but returned to save his colleagues. Garcia was killed on his fourth attempt when part of the building fell.

Regulating food aid

The first two days of isolation were spent in Baguio regulating the distribution of food and water, while the first responders from Benguet Corp and students from the Philippine Military Academy helped volunteer crawl through the falling buildings to search for survivors.

“We don’t know how much it actually costs to bring Baggio back,” said Antonio Taben, the city’s accountant, because the billions of pesos used to revive Baguio came from various donors here and abroad.

The city needed P50 million dollars to rebuild its water system, and another P2 million to repair its reservoir on a nearby mountain. Stu. Thomas.

The national government allocated P10 billion dollars to rebuild the affected communities, and a year later in June 1991, Mt. Pinatubo, a dormant volcano for 611 years, revived in one of the most devastating eruptions in the world in the twentieth century. Thousands of people were killed while communities were buried in Central Luzon in subsequent flows

Despite the catastrophe, Baggio officials still deal with disputes, starting with the businessmen who insisted on repairing the condemned buildings.

False news also became a problem, and then mayor Jaime Pognosin urged the “Rumor Watch Center” to be established.

“What the planners and authorities knew but they didn’t say is that the earthquake also opened up the opportunity for graft and corruption to emerge … With the 1992 elections, activities to deceive unscrupulous politicians began,” said Elagan.

The first rebuilt Baguio building was the Brent School School building in November, or four months after the earthquake. Brent helped the Episcopal Relief Center.

The Baguio Flower Festival was developed in 1995 to attract people who fled the city. —Resort reports from YOLANDA SOTELO, ARMAND GALANG, and VINCENT CABREZA

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