Local and national officials concerned with disaster preparedness and management recently completed a five-day training on the use of the Rapid Earthquake Damage Assessment System (REDAS) Software.
Developed by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) in 2002 under a Grant-in-Aid program of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the technology is able to estimate impacts such as physical damage, fatalities and economic losses due to various hazards such as earthquake, floods, severe wind, tsunami and lahars.
Held last April 22-26, 2024 in partnership with DOST-PHIVOLCS, DOST Provincial Science and Technology Office, and the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), the training had as participants the Municipal DRRM Officers of the 11 towns, five participants from Northern Samar, and representatives from the Catanduanes State University (CatSU), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) regional office, the Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO), and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAg).
PHIVOLCS Director Teresito Bacolcol and his staff arrived on the second day to collaborate with the provincial government on advanced disaster management strategies and then signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Governor Joseph Cua for the provision and training on the use of the REDAS software that would lead to better disaster response.
The software tool has five basic modules: REDAS ETAM or Earthquake and Tsunami Alerting Module that can monitor earthquakes and tsunami as well report intensity, plot hazards and administrative boundaries, compute and monitor tsunami travel time and arrival time; REDAS SHA or Seismic Hazard Assessment Module for ground shaking intensity simulation and plotting liquefaction and earthquake-induced landslides; REDAS SRM or Satellite Rainfall Monitor for near-real-time monitoring of rainfall in any part of the Philippines on 24-7 basis as well as retrieve and evaluate historical rainfall data from 2000 to present; REDAS EDM or Exposure Database Development Module, a desktop-based, web-based and mobile surveying tool in building exposure database for use in multi-hazard impact assessment; and REDAS MapDig or Map Digitizer and Database Development Tool.
The tool also has six advanced modules: REDAS SHAke for computing possible impacts of a particular earthquake scenario; REDAS SWIFT or Severe Wind Impact Forecasting Tool done in partnership with PAGASAl; REDAS FLoAT or Flood Loss Assessment Tool completed in partnership with the Mines and Geosciences Bureau; REDAS TsuSIM or Tsunami Simulation and Impact Module that can also plot evacuation routes; REDAS CropDAT or Crop Damage Assessment Tool for use in estimating agricultural damages due to severe wind and flood hazards; and REDAD QLIST or Quick Lahar Impact Simulation Tool.