Environment, History, Travel

The Great Luzon Earthquake: Baguio City, July 16, 1990

Last July 16, people commemorated the 25 anniversary of the 1990 Luzon Earthquake, which devastated central and northern Luzon, and killed at least 1621 people. Much of the damage to infrastructure was a combination of the power of the magnitude 7.8 earthquake and human greed.

Inspecting the ruins of the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Baguio City
Inspecting the ruins of the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Baguio City

At a later date, my clan went out to look at the ruins of the Hyatt Terraces Hotel. Just like the CCP (Christian Colleges of the Philippines) in Cabanatuan City and the Hotel Nevada in Baguio City, their owners added more floors to the buildings that had foundations suited for low rise structures. With all that extra weight, the buildings collapsed when the earthquake struck. becuase of the massive damage wrought by the earthquake, the UAP (United Architects of the Philippines) redrafted the Philippine Building Code, making future designs and architectural expansions better equipped for such disasters.

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lakansining

Artist, Designer, Advocate, and Teacher; John Paul 'Lakan' Olivares' work is inspired by his travels around the archipelago and living with different urban, rural and tribal communities. In these travels, he has searched for the Filipino spirit, which he tries to share in all his activities. In his paintings, he reflects a soulful connection with the various traditional indigenous cultures and the sensibilities of the people. Passionately rooted on Philippine lore, the free spirited artist orients his audience to his journeys by way of graphic representations of nationalistic concepts which are simply expressed, yet sincerely articulated by his meditative art process. Beyond native motifs etched in his art, Olivares conveys themes that celebrate universal connectedness by his environment, which inspires him to share his own visions of beauty through his varied works.

3 thoughts on “The Great Luzon Earthquake: Baguio City, July 16, 1990”

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