Monday, June 17, 2019

The Impact of Earthquakes and Natural Calamities in the Real Estate Industry (Part 1)

Recently, Central Luzon and other nearby areas felt the power of a 5.7 magnitude earthquake that hit the archipelago with its epicenter in the town of Castillejos, Zambales. The earthquake started at approximately 5:05 in the afternoon of that fateful day as it struck damage to homes and establishments in Metro Manila, Pampanga and other nearby areas. The damage brought about with this disaster cost some millions of pesos in damages to properties and loss of countless lives and livelihood in the town of Porac, Lubao and Floridablanca, Pampanga.






The collapsed of the four storey building commercial building in Chuzon Supermarket located in the downtown of Porac town in barangay Cangatba which killed a number of people and injured some of the shoppers. This avoidable incident is an eye opener for local officials in terms of proper implementation and inspection of building and compliance on the National Building Code of the Philippines. Thus, it reflects the non-compliance of the owner and the contractor of that particular establishment putting the public in danger. Right now, the Chuzon supermarkets are totally closed with the orders of President Rodrigo Duterte a week after the incident and it is undergoing investigation by different government agency particularly, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

In the outskirts of Porac town’s barangay in Planas and Camias which also felt the tremors affecting the lives of the local Aeta (katutubo) tribal people in the area where reported to have losses by local disaster and risk reduction management offices administered local government units of Porac and other nearby towns of Floridablanca and Lubao. It was also learned through observations of rescuer in the hills of Porac where the katutubo lived the structure are constructed with concrete hollow blocks but they have no reinforced steel bars to support the structures against earthquake which believed the observers  caused the death of the victims in that particular area. Thus, this shows non-compliance on the basic standard of construction from the National Building Code.

In Metro Manila, there was damage on a building located in Taft Avenue which is one of the buildings inside the campus of Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC). The tilting of the building was believed to be caused by liquefaction on the ground (loosening of the soil) where this building stands. DPWH also mentioned in their reports that the building should immediately evacuated and not to be used at that time. The UN Residences Building located beside the EAC have no damages however, it is a danger to the residents of the said building if another aftershock happens it could destroy the nearby building and might create havoc in the neighborhood.



For Real Estate Professionals like us who market properties, we usually ask the developers for clearance with PHIVOLCS because of some of the areas of Pampanga where affected by lahar in the early to mid-1990s particularly parts of Bacolor, Porac, Floridablanca and Mabalacat City. We also look on the geohazards and flood maps provided by local agencies in determining the right property for our clientele.

The bottom line on this incident reflects to possible home buyer on how value of properties can go lower if the location of the place are affected by such preventable catastrophes that can happen in our future. Example of these are doing due diligence in the part of the buyer including the real estate sales person or real estate broker selling a properties to prospective buyer. In an ABS-CBN article published in 2009 shows how a homeowner was affected by rampaging waters from Marikina River and the treacherous Tropical Storm Ketsana ("ONDOY) wherein it greatly affected the communities leaving their homes from this tragedy.  

To be continued on our next article on Part 2.

C. F. Baluyut Realty is an accredited realty firm that adheres to the highest possible satisfaction on our real estate services in Pampanga, Philippines. We pay a lot of attention to details in getting the right property for you at the right time in the right price. For more information on our real estate portfolio available in Pampanga, Metro Manila or nearby areas. You can visit our website at https://www.cfbaluyutrealty.com.                                                                                                                                                                  

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