Despite advances in modern technology, there doesn't seem to be a way out of these catastrophes
They call it an act of God that many people believe nothing can be done about. Yes, a natural disaster causes an emotional trauma that leaves a scar that victims may carry as long as they live. Lives may be cut short. Victims may suffer from temporary or permanent injury. Livelihoods are shuttered, and commerce grounds to a halt, disrupting the social and economic system, even as our ecosystem bears the brunt. Despite advances in modern technology, there doesn't seem to be a way out of these catastrophes. But among natural disasters, earthquakes remain an enigma. Aside from knowing about the Ring of Fire (a path along the Pacific Ocean characterized by active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes) and fault lines (those geological fractures wherein the movement of masses of rock has displaced parts of the Earth's crust), there is still no definite way to predict when these violent seismic events will occur. There may have been huge progress in monitoring fault lines which scientists use to trace the movement of the Earth. But unlike typhoons, predicting earthquakes is still not a sure thing. Even the most expert seismologists can only estimate where they may likely strike by calculating probabilities and forecasts. Through the years, we have witnessed an unimaginable number of deaths and amount of damage to properties along earthquake paths which are sadly not confined to the epicenter, but all the areas located along fault lines. The most our scientists can do to mitigate disasters from earthquakes is to enhance the government's detection capability. Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) Director Renato Solidum, Jr., who is also the new chief of the Department of Science and Technology, is upbeat about the Mindanao Cluster Monitoring Center for Earthquake and Tsunami (PMCMCET) which he believes is most capable of boosting the country's earthquake detection capability. We now have, as of Phivolcs record, a total of 111 facilities in the…