The City Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) bared that residents in around 60 villages transecting the five-segment Central Davao Fault System refused to evacuate.
Lyndon Ancajas, CDRRMO administration and training chief, said residents insist to stay in their houses despite the warnings of possible disaster as they are living atop the fault line.
Ancajas said they have repeatedly reminders residents who are living close to the faultline “to evacuate or relocate.”
“We are looking after the safety of everyone,” Ancajas said in an interview on Thursday.
The residents reportedly want to see documents as basis for the relocation.
The CDRRMO, in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) – Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), listed 60 villages in the city transecting the fault lines of two barangays in Tugbok District – Bago Oshiro and Mintal.
These villages are within the Central Davao Fault System, which comprise five segments.
The fault system also runs through the Pangyan-Biao, Tamugan Fault, New Carmen Fault, Lacson Fault, and Dacudao Fault, which can trigger a magnitude-6 and higher earthquake intensities.
Ancajas said they already installed markers to determine the location of the fault. He added that they already warned the residents to evacuate given the area is not safe for them to live.
“Same goes with those living in floodprone areas. We should not wait anymore to be rescued when we are already hit (by a calamity). We are looking into the prevention aspect here,” he added.
He also bared that the City Council here might pass a legislation mandating residents to relocate to a safer area.
