1990 Baguio ‘killer quake’ remembered
Let us heed the lessons of that day as we live each day in stress. Courage over fear, discipline over dreadfulness, character over carelessness. We did it that day, we can do it each day
BAGUIO CITY — The Baguio City Government yesterday led in commemorating the anniversary of the “killer” earthquake that devastated the city and claimed thousands of lives thirty years ago.
Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong pondered on the lessons from the massive temblor as the city rose up and rebuilt itself from the rubble in the years that followed, in which Magalong took the earthquake in parallel with the current coronavirus pandemic which is slowly bringing forth a similar devastation.
“Let us heed the lessons of that day as we live each day in stress. Courage over fear, discipline over dreadfulness, character over carelessness. We did it that day, we can do it each day,” Magalong said in a statement posted on his official Facebook page.
On the earthquake’s 30th anniversary, film maker and famous local artist Angelo Aurelio staged a small premiere of his short documentary entitled “Writing Thirty” at the Multi-Purpose Hall of the Baguio City Hall.
The film, which tackles the grief from the tragedy as well as the spirit of the people and the city’s resiliency, pays tribute to the efforts of the people of Baguio as it allowed the city to rise again from the devastation.
Aurelio put together interviews of 30 individuals, among them artists, journalists, educators who have all been survivors of the 1990 quake, into a metanarrative to share experiences and insights on the killer quake that changed the lives and perspectives of many people.
On 16 July 1990 at 4:46 p.m., the magnitude 7.8 earthquake shook the city and the rest of Luzon for about 45 seconds. With its epicenter in Rizal, Nueva Ecija, the temblor wreaked havoc not just in Baguio City but also in Cabanatuan City and Dagupan City in Pangasinan.
Deaths were estimated around 2,412, most of whom were struck by falling boulders from landslides and by collapsing buildings in its wake, while thousands more were left homeless and in the dark for months as electricity and water supply were interrupted.
The city was also cut off from outside world as major roads going to and from Baguio City were severely destroyed, forcing people to walk hundreds of kilometers into the city to find their lost family members and friends.