No sinkhole in Zambales – expert

CANDELARIA, Zambales – The initial findings of a beach slump that occured in the village of Uacon in the town of Candelaria was not caused by a sinkhole, an expert said.

Graciela Macabare, provincial head of Zambales’ disaster department, told reporters the likely cause was the presence of an underground river channel coursing through the area, which was responsible for the collapse of an area about 100 meters wide of the shoreline.

Following the initial findings, Macabare said “there is no cause for alarm. The beach is safe.”

Last Sunday, June 23, the area was declared as a “no-swimming” and “no-fishing” zone upon the advice of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), which has cordoned the area.

Members of the Philippine Army, Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard also monitored the site 24 hours a day.

According to Pancho Caculitan, a marine geologist from the MGB and the supervising science research specialist (SRS) of the marine investigating team deployed in Uacon, the sea bottom condition in the area “looks stable.”

Caculitan said the presence of a suspected river channel was detected through the echo-sounding study that created a topographic map of the area.

Aniano Torres, a hydro geologist from MGB and the supervising SRS of the land geologist team, meanwhile announced that they have not detected so far any anomaly in their sub-surface investigations.

He said the ground penetrating radar (GPR) readings did not show any obstruction or cavity beneath the area of the incident.

Both scientists, however, refused to give any definitive theory as to the cause of the shore slumping until all data have been correlated and analyzed. – Rappler.com