Seven dead as powerful quake rocks Philippines
Authorities say death toll could rise further; residents of quake-hit areas urgednot to panic as Duterte orders police, military to provide security and necessary aid for victims
The death toll from a strong earthquake in the southern Philippines has risen to seven, disaster and police officials said on Tuesday, as atershocks continued to jolt many parts of Mindanao.
The 6.6 magnitude quake hit early on Tuesday, damaging buildings, toppling power lines and triggering landslides in the central area of the Philippines’ southern island.
A seven-year-old child and his 44-year old father were among those who were killed in the North Cotabato province ater they were struck by a boulder, disaster officials said.
Authorities said the death toll could rise further because many injured were not immediately brought to hospitals.
Officials said that rescue teams were also looking for two other people reported as missing as they admited many of the houses and buildings that suffered heavy damage in the Oct.16 temblor had collapsed.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the earthquake was of tectonic origin that occurred at 9:04am on Tuesday at the town of Tulunan in North Cotabato.
Elron Olabese, a Phivolcs expert, called the temblor a “fore shock,” meaning it came from the same vicinity in Tulanan from which originated the Oct.16 earthquake that killed seven people and injured scores of others.
Dr Renato Solidum, the Phivolcs chief, also alllayed fears of a tsunami, explaining that the Oct.16 and Tuesday temblors occurred on land at at a depth of seven kilometers and not at sea.
But he warned the residents in danger areas prone to landslides to be on alert due to atershocks
In Malacanang Palace, Salvador Panelo, the presidential spokesman, urged residents not to panic and assured the government was on top of the situation, especially on its quick response to assist the victims.
“We ask our citizens to remain calm but vigilant and we urge them to refrain from spreading disinformation that may cause undue panic and stress to the people,” Panelo said, adding that President Duterte has ordered the police and the military to provide security and for concerned government agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Health to provide the necessary aid for the victims.
Mayor Sara Duterte, the daughter of the president and the mayor of their hometown of Davao City herself admited the Tuesday quake she has experienced was one of the “strongest ever.”
“I was dressing up and so did my children when the earthquake struck,” Mayor Sara told DZBB radio in a mix of Filipino and English.
“I had just one shoe on but I gathered the children and evacuated our home.”
As the earthquake struck, video coverage from various areas and aired on TV showed students rushing out of their rooms, particularly those from school buildings as high from three to four storeys in the areas affected.
Other scenes showed government employees rushing from their offices, with many of them especially the women crying, when the temblor struck shortly ater 9:00am.
“It was depressing to see the damage let by the earthquake,” Abril Espadera, a disaster official in North Cotabato, told media, as he recalled seeing collapsed homes and demolished buildings in the province, including schools.
Smaller tremors ratled nervous residents throughout the day and those who were afraid to return to their homes set up tents to shelter near school yards, Espadera said.
In Magsaysay town in Davao del Sur province, rescuers were trying to recover three bodies ater landslides in two separate towns swallowed parts of agricultural areas, police said.
The quake, whose magnitude was initially put at 6.7 by the European-mediterranean Seismological Centre, was the second powerful quake to strike Mindanao in two weeks.
Authorities had flagged the risk of landslides ater the 6.3 quake on Oct. 16 in central Mindanao that killed seven and injured more than 200.
Earthquakes are common in the Philippines, which is on the geologically active Pacific Ring of Fire.
Power cables swayed in Davao city, the home town of President Rodrigo Duterte, where people rushed to open spaces, and some fainted out of fear. The quake also triggered power cuts in nearby General Santos city, media said.