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Agence France-Presse

Arsenio Butil Jnr fell to his knees and began to pray when last week’s deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake began shaking his home on the coast of the southern Philippines.
When he opened his eyes, he saw a once-familiar shoreline changing in real time, with swathes of previously submerged coral suddenly pushing above the waterline.
The June 8 quake, driven by a shifting of the nearby Cotabato Trench, toppled buildings, triggered landslides and killed at least 76 people on the southern island of Mindanao.
The tectonic forces at work also thrust chunks of the island’s coastline upwards in a phenomenon known as “coastal uplift”, leaving stretches of shore unrecognisable to families who have spent their whole lives there.

During a visit to the area, fishing boats that had once been at the water’s edge could be seen on the wrong side of a wall of jagged, now-dead coral stretching for kilometres in both directions.
Butil, a fisherman and pastor living in Sarangani province’s Glan, said the June 8 quake was the largest that he had ever felt. “The people were extremely panicked,” he said.
“What I saw at the shoreline was that the water receded. After a while, I saw it … slowly returning. And then it receded again. Maybe three or four times,” Butil said. “The fish were dying and floating.”
The Cotabato Trench, which lies as close as 50km (31 miles) off Mindanao, is the site of frequent seismic activity, including a “swarm” of thousands of mostly small tremors recorded in January.


A UN disaster risk reduction report released in mid-May hinted they could be a precursor to a large earthquake.
“What they see now is their new coastline,” Nane Danlag of the Philippines’ seismology centre said from her office in General Santos City on Friday, adding the change was permanent.
“The [seabed] went up two metres,” Danlag said, extending the shore by 200 metres (650 feet) in some areas according to initial assessments.
Pointing at a map, she said the affected area stretched between two towns nearly 100km (62 miles) apart.
As shocking as the changes to the coastline appeared, the shifting of the earth’s crust that created it was a “natural movement”, she said. “This has been going on for thousands of years.”

In the hills above a neighbouring village, about 100 men, women and children who fled to higher ground when the earthquake struck were still living in an encampment.
Datu Atom Malimpnig, a Maguindanaon chieftain, said the newly formed coastline had left the group of fishermen and their families hesitant to return to their now-destroyed homes.
Many remain convinced a tsunami could yet strike, he said, as government aid workers ladled rice porridge into bowls for the evacuees.
“[The seabed] rose … It’s not the same as it was before,” Malimpnig said.
“What if the sea surges forward? That is what everyone fears,” he said, adding their new home atop the hill felt far safer.
Edzel Baylon, a staffer at the Isla Jardin del Mar resort 10km away, bemoaned a newly changed landscape that spelled trouble for a destination that touted a white sand beach holiday experience.
“It has a huge effect on the resort, because the main draw for customers is the sea,” she said, pointing at an idyllic beachfront now separated from the water by exposed coral.
“Sadly, today, our sea has become shallow. It’s no longer suitable for swimming.”

Since the June 8 quake, more than 8,500 aftershocks have shaken the region, according to the seismology agency.
In Glan, residents were thinking about next steps, but not yet ready to attempt to rebuild their destroyed homes, Butil said.
“The ground there is cracked, and the cracks are long. That is why this area would be very dangerous if another earthquake as strong follows.”
Minutes later, a 5.4 tremor shook the ground underneath his feet.


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The Philippines

A fishing boat is stranded after the seabed is thrust upwards by the June 8 earthquake in the Philippines. Photo: AFP

Corals are exposed after coastal uplift following an earthquake along the Pangyan Marine Sanctuary in Glan, Sarangani, on June 8. Photo: AFP

Residents stay in makeshift tents after being evacuated due to an earthquake in Glan, Sarangani, on Thursday. Photo: AFP

An aerial photo taken on Thursday shows the coastal uplift following an earthquake along the Pangyan Marine Sanctuary in Glan, Sarangani. Photo: AFP

Mindanao quake exposes Philippines’ vulnerability to ‘Big One’ tremor in Metro Manila

People collect their belongings from a damaged house following an earthquake off the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on Monday. Photo: Reuters

A damaged shop after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, in General Santos City, Mindanao, the Philippines, on Monday. Photo: Xinhua

Children try to escape as the roof of a structure at Deped Mahayahay Elementary School collapses during an earthquake in Digos, Mindanao, on Monday. Photo: Deped Mahayahay Elementary School/Handout via Reuters

Patients sit at a school after being evacuated from a hospital following an earthquake off the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on Monday. Photo: Reuters

Vehicles damaged by debris after a powerful earthquake hit the Mindanao region in the Philippines on Monday. Photo: Ernesto Torres Jr via AP

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A worker walks near a collapsed building in General Santos, southern Philippines, on June 8 following the magnitude 7.8 quake. Photo: Reuters

Damaged houses are seen in Glan, Sarangani province, on June 10 after the magnitude 7.8 earthquake. Photo: Reuters

Rescuers use a search-and-rescue dog to look for trapped people at a collapsed supermarket in Calumpang, General Santos, on June 9. Photo: Reuters

Filipino schoolchildren cover their heads with books during an earthquake drill in Valenzuela City in 2007. Photo: EPA

A woman walks past a photo exhibition in central Tokyo remembering the 1923 earthquake that hit the Japanese capital and surrounding areas, killing more than 100,000 people. Photo: AFP

Rescuers walk past the rubble of a collapsed building in Angeles City, the Philippines’ Pampanga province, on May 25. Photo: AFP

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A man walks near a collapsed building after a magnitude 7.8 quake in General Santos, Mindanao Island, the Philippines, on Monday. Photo: GenSan Dev/Reuters

Rescuers inspect the damage in the city of General Santos after Monday’s fatal earthquake. Photo: Philippine Red Cross/AP

A damaged McDonald’s in the city of General Santos following an earthquake on Monday. Photo: EPA/EMIL ELBERT P. PRUDENTE

Filipino schoolchildren in Malita, Davao Occidental province, react to Monday’s earthquake in this still from a video. Photo: DepEd Mahayahay Elementary School/AP

General Santos, a port city on the island of Mindanao, was badly hit by Monday’s earthquake. Photo: EPA

A woman takes a photo of a collapsed building in General Santos on Monday. Photo: Reuters

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A structure, which the Philippine Coast Guard said was likely deployed by Chinese research vessels, floats at the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, on June 10. Photo: Philippine Coast Guard/Handout via Reuters

A ship identified by the Philippine Coast Guard as a Chinese research vessel (right) is seen at Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Monday. Photo: AFP

An antenna claimed by the Philippine Coast Guard to have been installed by a Chinese research vessel is seen at Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Monday. Photo: AFP

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The tectonic forces that caused last week’s 7.8-magnitude quake also thrust chunks of the island’s coastline about two metres upwards


The tectonic forces that caused last week’s 7.8-magnitude quake also thrust chunks of the island’s coastline about two metres upwards.


Earthquakes

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Environment

Deadly Philippines quake permanently alters Mindanao coastline

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The tectonic forces that caused last week’s 7.8-magnitude quake also thrust chunks of the island’s coastline about two metres upwards

The tectonic forces that caused last week’s 7.8-magnitude quake also thrust chunks of the island’s coastline about two metres upwards