Minimal damages after Masbate quake
So far, there’s no structural damages have been reported to us, it’s more like surface damage, it’s very minor. Things inside a coliseum fell on the ground but other than that there’s no major damage
The Office of the Civil Defense said only minor damages were initially sustained after the magnitude 6.1 quake that jolted Batuan, Masbate at dawn Thursday.
OCD Assistant Secretary Raffy Alejandro said there is an ongoing assessment, monitoring, and checking of structures and buildings in the province, by the OCD regional office-Bicol in close collaboration with the Masbate provincial office.
Alejandro said a quake precautionary evacuation in Masbate Provincial Hospital affected around 200 patients and medical staff as they were transferred to safe tents during the tremor. No patients or hospital personnel have been hurt during the standard operating procedures amid the earthquake.
“So far, there’s no structural damages have been reported to us, it’s more like surface damage, it’s very minor. Things inside a coliseum fell on the ground but other than that there’s no major damage,” Alejandro said in an interview.
The strong and shallow quake struck just off the coast of Masbate province shortly after 2 a,m.
The epicenter was 11 kilometers (seven miles) from the coastal village of Miaga in Masbate’s Uson municipality.
The Philippine seismological agency said it had recorded more than 80 aftershocks.
The province has a population of nearly one million people spread across three islands.
Cracks in walls
Masbate provincial disaster officer Adonis Dilao told local media some buildings in the capital Masbate City had cracks in their walls, including the provincial hospital.
Patients had been evacuated from the facility, he said.
A section of the ceiling inside a sports and entertainment venue in the city also collapsed.
“Electricity posts were moving, even parked cars were shaken,” said Dilao.
Masbate City Mayor Socrates Tuason said classes and government work would be suspended on Thursday to allow for the “monitoring and inspection of structural integrity” of buildings.
Uson police chief Captain Reden Tolledo said some residents fled their homes.
Fault aftershocks
Meanwhile, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has so far recorded 135 aftershocks following the Masbate earthquake at 2 a.m. on Thursday.
Of the total aftershocks, 49 were recorded as plotted earthquakes and 16 were tremors felt in the province and neighboring areas, with magnitude ranging from 1.5 to 4.2, according to the latest data of Phivolcs as of 16 February afternoon.
Gregorio Adigue, a disaster officer in the Dimasalang municipality, said he felt a strong aftershock nearly an hour after the quake.
But buildings and other structures in the area did not appear to be damaged, he said.
Crumbling walls
On Ticao island, which is part of Masbate province, residents in one house reported a wall had crumbled, but they were unharmed, said Consencino Reymundo, a disaster officer in San Fernando municipality.
“We lost electricity but it was restored two hours later,” Reymundo told AFP.