About 80 participants in the rapid earthquake damage assessment seminar were briefly jolted out of their seats by a magnitude 5.4 earthquake that rocked Dumaguete City, other parts of Negros Oriental, Zamboanga and Iloilo at around 2:25 p.m. yesterday.
Instead of panicking or rushing out of the venue, the participants from local government units of Negros Oriental stayed calm while lectures were put on hold for about 30 seconds to a minute, as the intensity 4 tremblor lasted.
Science research analyst Joe Molas of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology station in Sibulan, Negros Oriental, said the epicenter of the earthquake, that was tectonic in origin, was in Zamboanga del Norte.
The seminar was spearheaded by the provincial government with guest lecturers from the PHIVOLCS, the weather bureau, and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.*JFP
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