Fabricated govt alert recirculates after powerful earthquakes strike southern Philippines

"Pray for Mindanao," reads a Facebook post shared more than 180 times since it was published on Facebook on March 7.

"PHIVOLCS Regional Director said in an interview over a local radio station that it is possible for CDO or Tagoloan to be the epicenter of a high-magnitude quake because of the active fault line in CDO and Tagoloan river."

Phivolcs is the Philippine government agency that provides information on earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis.

The post goes on to claim: "A 7.2 magnitude quake could trigger a tsunami that could reach a 15-storey building. He advised to study our surroundings for a possible evacuation route.

"He further said they could never predict an earthquake. Preparedness is the key. #repost".

The post also falsely claims the country's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) warned a bigger earthquake, likely up to 8.0-magnitude, would be felt across Mindanao island.

It goes on to include a purported quote by a regional director of NDRRMC's implementing arm, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).

"Pls (sic) we ask for your fervent prayers for our nation to spare us from disasters & calamities. In Jesus name Amen," OCD 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula) Director Ramon Ochotorena was quoted as saying.

Image

Screenshot of the false post taken on March 15, 2023.

The Philippines is regularly rocked by earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

Fake alerts for natural disasters that tend to cause panic regularly spread on social media in the archipelago nation.

The false post was uploaded hours after a series of two strong earthquakes jolted the mountainous gold-mining province of Davao de Oro on Mindanao island on March 7, as AFP reported here.

Multiple Facebook posts -- published here and here -- shared the same false warning. Comments from some users suggested they believed the claim.

"The Lord will always look after us let's just pray and trust in him," one user commented.

"Sharing this. We really need to stay alert and take care always," another said.

However, Phivolcs, NDRRMC and OCD Region 9 separately denied issuing the message. The post is similar to old posts previously debunked by AFP in September 2022.

Debunked hoax

The posts originally surfaced in October 2019, after a 6.3-magnitude quake struck Tululan municipality in southern Mindanao.

"This message is continuously circulating every time there are earthquakes in Mindanao. They are still not true," Phivolcs geologist Jeffrey Perez said.

Speaking to AFP in September last year, Perez clarified that the agency had no "regional director", adding that the quakes predicted in the posts were unlikely to occur.

The 14-kilometre (eight-mile) Tagoloan River Fault was capable of generating a maximum 6.5-strong quake, he said, as opposed to the 7.2 quake that the fake alert claimed to predict.

The NDRRMC also said shortly after the Tululan quake that the Facebook posts were spreading false information.

"Earthquakes still cannot be predicted, that's why we need to prepare always," Perez said.

When asked about his purported quote in the false advisory, OCD Region IX Director Ochotorena denied issuing it and referred AFP to a statement released by the agency in January this year.

"Once again, the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC IX) and Office of Civil Defense (OCD) IX are letting the public know this information did not come from NDRRMC or OCD IX Regional Director Ramon Ochotorena," the Tagalog-language message reads in part.

"That is the official statement of RDRRMC IX regarding the matter and no changes at all," Ochotorena told AFP.