The Tsunami

The Tsunami

The magnitude 7.1 Mindoro earthquake was tsunamigenic. The tsunami hit approximately 40-km of the northern and eastern shoreline of Mindoro island. Also affected by tsunami were islands north of Mindoro mainland, namely Verde Island and Baco Islands.
Areas hardest hit by the tsunami are in Barangays Malaylay, Old Baco, Wawa, and Baco Islands where at least 6 meters of vertical run-up was believed to have smashed the shoreline, destroying completely the houses nearshore and leaving at least 41 persons dead, mostly children and old people. All deaths were due to drowning. The earthquake generated a ground rupture of 35-km long. The earthquake epicenter was located 11 km of Baco, Mindoro.
Almost all of the respondents living proximal to the origin of the origin of the tsunami reported that not more than 5 minutes lapsed before the first big wave arrived. The tsunami wave train formed at least 3 large waves with varying magnitude. Most of the people interviewed claimed that the first wave was the strongest and the succeeding waves were smaller. Tsunami deposits near the shore are thick (more than a meter) and extended landward for about 30 meters. The people were awakened from their sleep by the strong ground motion and afterward by the strong ground motion and afterward by the strong sound created by the incoming tsunami waves. Most of those who noticed the incoming tsunami were able to run inland and thus escaped the tsunami. A few survivors, mostly strong men, whose homes were hit by the tsunami were able to hold on to something stable. There were several fishing boats that were totally destroyed. Damaged houses were mostly built from light structures. Some concrete structures sustained moderate damage even where the vertical run-up waves were higher than the structures.

Casualties and Damages

The 15 November 1994 earthquake affected 13 out of 15 municipalities. As per official report of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO), about 22452 families were affected. Casualties numbered 78 confirmed dead and 430 injured. Almost half of the casualties were children below 10 years old who were drowned. Some 7566 houses were damaged: 1530 totally or washed away by tsunami, and 6036 partially. Damaged infrastructure include 24 bridges 8 of which were rendered impassable for days, isolating villages and towns in the interior.
Three major power plants tripped during the earthquake, causing brown outs on Mindoro Island. Some areas in Metro Manila also experienced brief power interruption. Power was partially restored in Mindoro before the end of November, but it took another month before the power situation in the province was normalized. Total Cost of rehabilitating damaged buildings and infrastructures is placed at P5.15 Million.