.jpg)
ATTY. MEL STA. MARIA: The advantage, questions, standard of a Corona testimony
Jessica Sanchez's rival in 'Idol' crown has severe kidney problems, needs immediate surgery - TMZ
Sensational Samal: More people flock to town of Jessica's mom after Sanchez makes it to Idol finale
NATO activates missile shield, reaches out to Russia
InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
CEBU CITY, Philippines -- (UPDATE 2 - 9:52 p.m.) A tsunami -- or perhaps more accurate, a tsunami of warnings -- caused panic among Cebu City residents on Monday afternoon, as citizens received tsunami alerts, both official and unofficial, in the wake of a magnitude 6.8 earthquake that hit off Negros island.
The alerts, coming from government, media, loved ones, and strangers, resulted in traffic jams and frayed nerves.
However, the main seismic event or the two aftershocks felt within half an hour of the first tremor had not caused as much tumult as the false report of a tsunami already encroaching the city's downtown district at 2 p.m.
”I was on my way to Colon St. when a fellow passenger of the jeepney I was riding said she received a text that there was flooding there," said Amy, a shopkeeper.
"People panicked and began disembarking and catching rides south-bound toward higher ground," she added.
"The report spread like wildfire," said former city councilor Sylvan Jakosalem, who now heads the city's traffic management body.
Traffic stopped
Traffic ground to a halt, with roads leading to such upland places as Banawa, Labangon, and Pardo being unable to bear the sudden rise in incoming vehicle volume.
Residents along East Capitol Road started running uphill screaming: “Adto sa barangay hall! Adto sa barangay hall [Go to the barangay hall]!”
They said men on motorcycles blew their horns and shouted, "Ang tubig na-a na sa Jones [The water is already at Jones Street]!”
One woman said she was told water could spring out of cracked streets and turn into a tsunami.
People who ran to higher ground had come as far as Carbon Market, more than 3.6 kilometers away from East Capitol Road.
The people who took refuge in the barangay hall started crying and one person interviewed on local radio said that the driver of the jeepney they were riding forced them to get down since he had to ensure first the safety of his family in Pasil, which is along the coast.
Jammed phone lines
Cellular network connection also became difficult.
"I called up two radio station officials to get them to broadcast our traffic updates and to calm people down but I could not reach anybody," Jakosalem said.
Alvin Santillana, head of the city's disaster and risk reduction and management council, could also not be reached.
Calm was established when patrol cars of the different police stations in the city, each with public address equipment, began going around and announcing that the tsunami reports were false.
The tremors past noon caused evacuations in many government offices, including the City Hall, the Palace of Justice and the Provincial Capitol.
Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia and her guest, Gov. Imee Marcos, were rushed to the open space of the Capitol Grounds. Reports of evacuation from classrooms to open areas were also done in both public and private schools.
Reminiscent of ‘Sinulog’
Mark Philipp Opada, a Cebu City-based lawyer whose office is near Pier 1, said the earthquake was strong “but really never thought much of it until a friend of mine who just came from city hall called me around quarter to 2 pm saying everyone is panicking in the street because a tsunami warning was broadcast [through text messages].”
The city’s Pier 1 is within the 20-meter danger zone set by authorities under tsunami alert level 2.
“Somebody pressed the panic button, grabe, everyone was in the steets, as if a tsunami will hit within the next 10 minutes. It was a warning gone wrong. Misinformation talaga,” he told InterAksyon.com.
The lawyer said there were police officers going around with sirens. When he stepped out of the office, he saw people bringing bags, cloths, images of the Sto. Nino. There was even a man carrying a tire tubing to use as a lifebuoy.
“This was how the streets looked from the port area all the way to Banilad and Talamban area, which is funny because Banilad and Talamban are pretty far from the coast,” Opada said.
He added that the problem with the tsunami warning levels is that people did not understand what these meant, unlike when authorities issue typhoon warnings, they know it really well.
Along MJ Cueno St. people were already packing things and images of the Sto. Nino were placed along streets and hand carried by people.
Eye witnesses said panic is most evident around the reclamation area in Mandaue City, port area of Cebu City, downtown and all the way to Jones Ave., Archbishop Reyes up to Talamban area.
Motorists and commuters were stuck in traffic for two hours.
Around 2:30 pm, commuters from Colon to CIT were running either to catch a jeep or taxi just to get to where they are supposed to be headed.
Panic at the Palace
"I ran," said Jose Devenosa, a clerk at one of the courtrooms inside the Marcelo B. Fernan Palace of Justice. "Who wouldn't run? Who wouldn't be scared after something like that?"
"That was the first time I experienced an earthquake inside that building," Devenosa said.
But beyond the scare, the quake also uncovered safety concerns.
The Palace is a three-storey concrete building with only two entrances, which also serve as exits, and fire escapes which were not part of the original design but added to the complex only recently.
It hosts 22 Regional Trial Courts, six Municipal Trial Courts in Cities, a library, the city and provincial prosecutor's offices, the Office of the Regional State Prosecutor, the Office of the Public Attorney and the regional Parole and Probation Office.
Over 300 people work there, including judges and prosecutors.
Add litigants and their lawyers, as well as detainees and their police or bureau of jail management escorts, and close to 1,000 people can be at the Palace of Justice on any given workday.
At the height of the first tremor, court workers rushed out of their salas and pushed and shoved their way towards the building's two entrances.
"They were in panic. Some looked like they were ready to faint," said Henry Espinosa, the building manager.
Guards pleaded for calm, he said, but their pleas were drowned by the workers' shouting.
"We were worried that some might fall down and get trampled," he said.
All the workers got out safely by the time the main seismic event ended and before the first aftershock was felt.
However, as they made their way to the exits, detainees were forced to squat on the lobby with their escorts watching over them.
The Palace does not have a special safety protocol for earthquakes, Espinosa admitted.
"The annual fire drill serves as our earthquake drill," he added.
