Following
the 6.9-magnitude earthquake that hit the country, officials have issued a
tsunami warning and urged residents to stay on alert
At least 52 people were killed when a
6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Negros and Cebu provinces (central Philippines)
shortly before noon Monday, causing landslides and huge cracks on highways, and
violently shaking buildings, officials said.
A three-story building collapsed, while seven
bridges were rendered impassable, they said.
In Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental at least
29 people were feared dead following a landslide in Barangay (village) Planas,
Mayor Ernesto Reyes said in a phone interview. He said there could be more
fatalities in other barangays.
"They were buried in 30 feet (10 metres)
of soil. If you had been buried from noon until now (6 p.m.), I don’t expect
you to be alive,” Reyes said.
Rescuers dug with picks and shovels trying to
reach dozens of people trapped under houses that collapsed, according to The
Associated Press (AP).
Ten others died due to a landslide at the
Guihulngan national road, Reyes said.
Governor Roel Degamo said a 9-year-old
girl, Bernadette Raidan, died when a
wall collapsed in Tayasan town.
Twelve other fatalities were listed by the
Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Eight were from
Guihulngan, one each from Jimalalud and Bindoy towns, and two from Tayasan.
The earthquake, which struck at 11:49 a.m.,
was located 5 kilometres northwest of Tayasan town in Negros Oriental, and was
tectonic in origin. It had a depth of 10 km. The US Geological Survey placed
the magnitude at 6.7.
In Manila, the Palace urged the people
affected by the earthquake to remain watchful and calm, and to cooperate with
the authorities “while the threat of immediate dangers appears to have passed”.
President Benigno Aquino III ordered the
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) to assess and
collate the extent of the damage and casualties, and to provide the necessary
interventions, his spokesperson, Edwin Lacierda, said in a statement.
The temblor also prompted a tsunami warning
from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs),
alerting residents near the coastal areas of Negros and Cebu to watch for
unusual waves but not requiring any evacuation.
The alert was canceled after no further
reports of unusual sea level changes were received after the two-hour extended
observation period.
But more aftershocks could be expected in the
next few weeks in areas near the epicenter, according to Ishmael Narag, officer
in charge of the Phivolcs’ seismology division. As of 1 p.m. Monday, Phivolcs
had recorded 16 aftershocks.
The quake triggered another landslide in the
mountain village of Solongon in La Libertad town, also in Negros Oriental. An
unknown number of people were trapped, said Inspector Eric Arrol Besario, the
town police chief.
"We’re now getting shovels and chainsaws
to start a rescue because there were people trapped inside. Some of them were
yelling for help earlier,” Besario told AP by phone. Three key bridges in the
town cracked and were no longer passable, he said.
The earthquake sent shoppers scrambling under
tables and workers and students rushing out of their buildings in cities of
Negros and Cebu.
Classes in all public and private schools in
Negros Oriental were suspended, while businesses in Dumaguete City were closed.
Building cracks
In Negros Occidental, the earthquake caused
cracks in the city halls of Sagay and Cadiz, and the city hospital and
gymnasium of Himamaylan.
Big waves damaged two houses and an ambulance
fell on its side in Barangay Martilu, La Libertad, according to Mayor Lawrence
Limkaichong. Two houses were also reported damaged in the town of Jimalalud,
some 100 kilometres north of Dumaguete.
Huge waves washed out five bamboo and wooden
cottages from a beach resort in La Libertad, but there were no reports of
injuries, said Superintendent Ernesto Tagle. Elsewhere along the coast, people
rushed out of schools, malls and offices.
Two people died in another town close to the
epicenter, Tayasan, including a child when a concrete fence of a house
collapsed, said Benito Ramos, head of the Office of Civil Defense.
Another child was killed in a church when a
wall collapsed during a funeral in Negros Oriental’s Jimalalud town, Mayor
Reynaldo Tuanda said.
Tayasan police officer Alfred Vicente Silvosa
told AP by phone that aftershocks were preventing people from returning to
their homes.
"We are outside, at the town plaza. We
cannot inspect buildings yet because it’s dangerous,” Silvosa said. “I felt the
building shaking, so I rushed out of the building. Our computers, shelves,
plates, the cupboards, water dispenser all fell.”
A three-story office building also collapsed
in La Libertad, but occupants escaped.
The Negros Oriental police chief, Edward
Carranza, said police rushed out of his building when the quake struck. “All my
personnel ran out fearing our building would collapse,” he said.
"Now it’s shaking again,” he said as an
aftershock hit. “My keychain is dancing.”
In Negros Occidental, Bacolod City Mayor
Evelio Leonardia ordered the suspension of work and classes in all public and
private offices and institutions. He, however, directed the city’s disaster
team to be on alert and to inspect buildings for cracks.
In Iloilo City, employees and students rushed
out of offices and classrooms as buildings swayed. Classes in the city and
province were suspended in anticipation of aftershocks. Government employees
were sent home in the afternoon.
A blackout occurred in the city, but power was
normalised at 3:45 p.m.
The earthquake was slightly felt in Boracay
Island and a few Mindanao and Luzon provinces.
Guihulngan Mayor Reyes said about 100 people
were injured and brought for treatment to Guihulngan District Hospital and
neighboring district hospitals.
Reyes said Guihulngan had about 100 patients
who are in need of immediate medical attention. “We need to transport these
patients to Bacolod, Cebu or Dumaguete but our roads and bridges are
impassable,” he said.
Food and medicines were waiting in the
provincial capital of Dumaguete, but the aid could not reach the villages in
need because of damaged roads and bridges.
"There is a Canadian and an Indian doctor
who are here for an earlier scheduled medical mission and it’s a good thing
they are helping us,” Reyes said. “They have some medicines with them but that
may not be enough.”
All bridges and roads leading to the north and
south of the city were damaged, leaving it isolated, he said. These included
the bridges of Martilo in La Libertad, Pangaluan in Jimalalud town, and
Tinayonan in Guihulngan.
Many buildings were damaged, he said. “The
Landbank building is leaning on one side while a portion of our public market
collapsed.”
Cracks appeared along sections of the national
highway and on public and private buildings, the Provincial Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management Council said in a statement.
The first earthquake occurred at 11:49 a.m.
with a magnitude of 6.8 and a depth of 20 km. The epicenter was located 72 km north
of Dumaguete, 74 km west-northwest of Tagbilaran City and 80 km west-southwest
of Cebu.
A second tremor hit various areas in the
Visayas at 12:03 p.m. at a depth of 34.8 km. The epicenter was located 62 km
north of Dumaguete, 69 km west-northwest of Tagbilaran and 84 km southwest of
Cebu.
Still, a third tremor was felt at 12:20 p.m.
with a magnitude of 4.8 and a depth of 34.8 km. The epicenter was located 71 km
south-southeast of Bacolod City, 84 km west-southwest of Cebu and 84 km north
of Dumaguete City.
Alex Pal and Florence Baesa
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Bobby Cañete of the local Phivolcs station in
Palo town in Leyte said that the series of earthquakes felt in the region was
caused by the movement of the Philippine Sea Plate diving down under eastern
Philippines along the Philippine Trench. With reports from Jhunnex Napallacan,
Carla Gomez and Nestor Burgos Jr., Inquirer Visayas; Christine O. Avendaño and
Leila B. Salaverria in Manila; and AP
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