ZAMBOANGA CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 07 Mar) Fears of undersea volcanic eruptions and threats of deadly tsunamis have triggered an exodus of people in many coastal towns in the southern Philippines, officials said Tuesday.
Governor Robert Lyndon Barbers, of Surigao del Norte province, said cell phone text messages about an impending volcanic eruptions and tsunamis have forced many people to flee their homes since Saturday.
"Many have already evacuated. They are afraid, but we told them there is no truth to the rumors of an impending underwater volcanic eruptions or tsunamis. We are telling them to return home," Barbers said.
Barbers could not say the exact number of those who fled their homes, but claimed the exodus still continues.
Tsunami is series of catastrophic ocean waves generated by submarine movements, which may be caused by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or undersea landslides.
The Philippine Institute of Volcano logy and Seismology (Philvocs) said there were no reports of earthquakes in the southern region.
"We have no reports of earthquakes, either from Hawaii or Hong Kong (volcano observatories). And there can be no tsunami if there are no earthquakes," said Philvocs director Renato Solidum.
Tsunamis usually occur in the Pacific Ocean following earthquakes over magnitude 6.5 on the Richter scale. On December 26, 2004, a 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra in Indonesia, caused a tsunami with waves as high as 65 ft nearest the epicenter. More than 200,000 people may have died.
The waves devastated many areas in Sumatra, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Sri Lanka, India and Thailand were also hard hit.
Governor Robert Lyndon Barbers, of Surigao del Norte province, said cell phone text messages about an impending volcanic eruptions and tsunamis have forced many people to flee their homes since Saturday.
"Many have already evacuated. They are afraid, but we told them there is no truth to the rumors of an impending underwater volcanic eruptions or tsunamis. We are telling them to return home," Barbers said.
Barbers could not say the exact number of those who fled their homes, but claimed the exodus still continues.
Tsunami is series of catastrophic ocean waves generated by submarine movements, which may be caused by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or undersea landslides.
The Philippine Institute of Volcano logy and Seismology (Philvocs) said there were no reports of earthquakes in the southern region.
"We have no reports of earthquakes, either from Hawaii or Hong Kong (volcano observatories). And there can be no tsunami if there are no earthquakes," said Philvocs director Renato Solidum.
Tsunamis usually occur in the Pacific Ocean following earthquakes over magnitude 6.5 on the Richter scale. On December 26, 2004, a 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra in Indonesia, caused a tsunami with waves as high as 65 ft nearest the epicenter. More than 200,000 people may have died.
The waves devastated many areas in Sumatra, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Sri Lanka, India and Thailand were also hard hit.
Deaths and destruction occurred as far away as the coasts of Somalia and Madagascar in Africa, and minor sea level changes were measured as far away as San Diego in California, Atlantic City in New Jersey and Iquique in Chile.
On August 16, 1976, a tsunami generated by a quake in Mindanao killed more than 10,000 people in the Moro Gulf region -- coastal communities in the Sulu archipelago, Zamboanga Peninsula, Lanao provinces, North Cotabato, Maguindanao, and Sultan Kudarat provinces.
On August 16, 1976, a tsunami generated by a quake in Mindanao killed more than 10,000 people in the Moro Gulf region -- coastal communities in the Sulu archipelago, Zamboanga Peninsula, Lanao provinces, North Cotabato, Maguindanao, and Sultan Kudarat provinces.
One of the most destructive tsunamis to occur during historical times followed the explosive eruption of the volcano Krakatoa in the East Indies on Aug. 27, 1883, when over 36,000 people were killed as a result of the waves up to 100 ft.
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