(UPDATE) UN aid wing, partners seek $46.8 M for Phl quake relief

UNITED NATIONS (Xinhua) - The United Nations and its humanitarian partners in the Philippines appealed for $46.8 million to meet the acute needs of victims of the Bohol earthquake, which was believed to have affected more than 3 million people, a UN spokesman said on Friday.

A action plan for the quake relief supports government priorities, including emergency shelter for 344,000 displaced and homeless people, water, sanitation and hygiene, debris removal and coordination, as well as other life-saving interventions, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters here at a daily news briefing.

A 7.2-magnitude quake, centered within two miles of Carmen town, south of Manila, triggered landslides engulfing entire homes, ripping apart bridges and tearing down centuries-old churches. Seven cities in three different provinces were initially affected.

The Philippines' National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said, out of 631,605 families, or more than 3 million individuals, affected by the Oct. 15 quake, about 336,900 people were displaced and served both inside and outside evacuation centers in Bohol.

Also Friday, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that people urgently require temporary and transitional shelters.

"Providing relief to the people who most need it requires cooperation and coordination with the local and national authorities, who are leading this response," it said in a statement.