PHILIPPINES IS SINKING AWAY

 Here are some videos of damage by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake that hit Masbate island, Philippines yesterday morning August 18, 2020. According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), the strong quake was centered five kilometers southwest of Cataingan town and it rattled a large swath of central Philippines. And just last year there were reports that the Islands are “sinking away.”

 In spite of denials from some native islanders, to the contrary, when Mary Ann San Jose moved to Sitio Pariahan more than a decade ago, she could walk to the local chapel. Today, reaching it requires a swim. The steady sinking of coastal towns and islets like Pariahan in the northern Philippines has caused Manila Bay’s brackish water to pour inland and displace thousands, posing a greater threat than rising sea levels due to climate change.