BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau in Western Visayas (MGB-6) has recommended the relocation of houses and residents away from Sitios Manaol and Santos, Brgy. Quintin Remo, Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental, where fissures reoccurred.
This was contained in a report submitted by MGB 6 yesterday to Moises Padilla Mayor Ella Celestina Garcia Yulo, after completing their survey on the ground cracks in August this year, part of a landslide that took place in the same area in 2009.
Engr. Leilanie Suerte, supervising geologist for MGB-6, described the type of landslide in Sitio Manaol as an “active creeping landslide” with an estimated length of 2.34 kilometers and an area of 0.97 square kilometers.
Suerte said the slow-moving landslide is unnoticeable on a daily basis since it only moves a few millimeters per day during dry conditions and a few centimeters to a meter during saturated conditions.
She raised the possibility that the flow could be rapid when triggered by a strong earthquake, citing the Guihulngan landslide event as an example, which was triggered by a magnitude 6.7 earthquake in 2012.
The areas in Sitios Manaol and Santos Santos that are within the active landslide must be declared as “High Risk Danger Zone, or No Build Zone” since movement is continuous at varying speed, the MGB 6 report said.
Suerte pointed out that no amount of engineering intervention could stop the slow-moving or creeping landslides.
While it recommended that all residents and houses living within those high risk areas be relocated, it can still be used as an agricultural zone, provided ample warning signs and notices should be placed, the report added.
The MGB6 inspecting team identified at least 18 houses and structures in the area of the moving mass.
She also warned that the landslide in the area may further progress, especially if the nearby Tig-buaya Creek is struck by flashfloods during continuous heavy downpour or strong tremors.*
