Surigao quake kills 6

SURIGAO CITY, Philippines – The earth shook as the city was settling in for the night, sending residents scampering for safety as debris from damaged buildings rained down on them.

A powerful earthquake struck this city at 10:03 p.m. last Friday, killing at least six people and injuring more than 120 others. Rescue workers yesterday frantically combed through cracked buildings looking for survivors as well as casualties.

The late Friday quake with a magnitude of 6.7 roused residents from sleep and sent hundreds fleeing their homes.

Provincial disaster response official Gilbert Gonzales said at least six people were killed, some hit by falling debris and concrete walls. He added at least 126 others were injured, most of them from this capital city.

“Rescuers pulled out a man pinned by a collapsed wall in his house but he died and was no longer brought to a hospital,” Gonzales said.

Officials said the quake was strong enough to be felt in the entire Mindanao and Visayas regions.

“The shaking was so strong I could hardly stand,” Coast Guard personnel Rayner Neil Elopre said.

Barangay officials asked residents to move to a school building on higher ground, Elopre said on the phone, pausing briefly during a mild aftershock.

Police officer Jimmy Sarael said he, his wife and two children embraced each other until the shaking stopped. They later moved to the moonlit grounds outside the provincial capitol complex to join more than 1,000 jittery residents, he said.

President Duterte is set to visit the area today to oversee rescue operations.

Duterte has ordered the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and all the other government agencies concerned to immediately respond to the situation and attend to the thousands of affected residents.

Duterte also ordered the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to look after the needs of the evacuees and other residents who need relief assistance. 

Malacañang said local disaster and social welfare officials have been directed to monitor closely the situation. 

“Concerned officials are now in Surigao to conduct monitoring and damage assessment,” presidential communications secretary Martin Andanar said.

“We advise our people to continue to be alert for aftershocks,” he added.

Humanity crisis

Officials said most of those who perished during the quake were pinned or hit by debris.

There were initial reports that at least 15 people died with several others still missing.

Office of Civil Defense (OCD)-Caraga region spokesperson April Rose Sanchez identified the casualties as Lorenzo Deguino, 86; Roberto Eludo, 39; Wilson Lito, 55; Rhoda Justina Taganahan, 83; and Wenifreda Aragon Bernal, 66 and Jay Ariol, four years old, all residents of Surigao City.

Tagahanan died from a heart attack while Bernal was pinned underneath a collapsed concrete wall and the rest succumbed to blunt force trauma injuries caused by debris.

At least 108 people were injured in this city, including the 14 who were initially admitted to the Caraga Regional Hospital. Another seven were injured in nearby Sison town.

Sanchez clarified reports supposedly coming from the Surigao del Norte Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMC) that there were 15 casualties from the quake.

She said the OCD is still verifying the report but maintained there are six casualties as of yesterday. She added they are also verifying reports of several missing.

TV footage showed the facade of a number of buildings heavily cracked, their glass windows shattered with canopies and debris falling on cars parked in the street below.

Rescuers in one building tried to break a collapsed concrete slab to check if there were people pinned underneath.

Roads had visible cracks in the coastal city and the Anao-aon bridge collapsed in the outlying town of San Francisco.

Rescue teams were checking for possible casualties in Barangay Poknoy in the city of 140,500 people, officials said.

The city’s airport was temporarily closed due to deep cracks in the runway.

Aviation officials said the Surigao airport might have to be closed for a month for repairs. Flight operations have been diverted to Butuan City airport, some 123 kilometers away.

A major port in Lipata district was also briefly closed while engineers checked the stability of an access road, Gonzales said.

A power outage hit a large portion of the city as soon as the tremor struck, he said.

The Department of Energy (DOE) said all facilities of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) did not sustain any damage from the quake.

Surigao del Norte Electric Cooperative Inc. (SURNECO) –which serves Surigao City, 11 other municipalities and one missionary area – also reported minimal damage in its distribution lines, the DOE said.

However, SURNECO declared total damage in its headquarters.

Response

Evacuation centers accommodated residents overnight but many returned home yesterday, according to Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo.

She said the DSWD has activated its quick response team to monitor the situation in affected areas.

“We are committed to help Filipinos affected by the 6.7 magnitude earthquake in Surigao. We appeal to everyone to be vigilant regarding aftershocks,” she said.

She added disaster officials were continuing to assess the damage in Surigao City and outlying towns.

“There are areas that were heavily damaged but we don’t have a detailed report yet as the local government of Surigao City is still conducting rapid assessment and damage analysis,” said Ivy Paglinawan, spokesperson of the regional disaster office of Caraga.

She added the regional disaster office is monitoring the situation even as the city government has placed Surigao City under a state of calamity.

Several buildings and residential houses were damaged by the quake, including portions of Surigao City Trade School and Surigao State College of Technology.

Among the buildings severely affected were the Gaisano shopping mall, Parkway Hotel and Absolute Essential building.

The Department of Health (DOH) said they would deploy teams to distribute medical supplies and other relief goods in Surigao.

Philippine Red Cross chairman Sen. Richard Gordon said they have set up welfare desks in hospitals to assist patients and help find missing relatives.

“We are currently assessing the situation there to know their needs. We have people in the field that are already helping the victims,” Gordon said. 

Aftershocks

Renato Solidum of the Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology (Phivolcs) said the quake was centered about 14 kilometers northwest of this city at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers, resulting in strong intensities in surrounding areas.

Nearly 100 aftershocks have been felt, officials said.

Phivolcs said they observed at least 89 aftershocks as of noon yesterday.

The strongest aftershock with a magnitude of 3.8 was recorded at 11:09 p.m. Friday.

Solidum said the quake was set off by movement in a segment of the Philippine fault, which sits in the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where quakes and volcanoes are common.

Following Friday night’s quake, a strong magnitude 4.9 rocked various parts Mindanao yesterday.

Its epicenter was located 10 kilometers northwest of Surigao City, where an intensity V tremor was felt at 5:11 p.m.

Intensity III was also felt in San Ricardo, Southern Leyte.

The extent of the effect of the said aftershock has yet to be assessed as of last night.

At least 40 aftershocks above magnitude 2 were recorded by state seismologists in Eastern Visayas and Mindanao since the earthquake on Friday night.

Among the areas that were affected were Surigao provinces, Dinagat Islands, Compostela Valley, Cotabato, Agusan provinces and Southern Leyte.

Solidum said aftershocks may be felt in the area for several days.

While aftershocks are expected to generally be less intense than the initial tremor, Solidum said they are not discounting the possibility of a quake with a similar or even greater magnitude.

Effects of the earthquake were felt in Malimono and San Franciso, Surigao del Norte and Pintuyan, Southern Leyte.

A tremor of lesser intensity was also felt in Mainit and Placer, Surigao del Norte; Libjo and San Jose, Dinagat Island; Mandaue City and San Ricardo, Limasawa and San Francisco, Southern Leyte.

It was also felt in Hinunangan and San Juan, Southern Leyte; Abuyog and Mayorga, Leyte; Butuan City; and Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte.

Intensity III was felt in Mambajao, Camiguin; Ormoc, City; Tacloban City; Palo, Pastrana, and Tolosa, Leyte; Catbalogan City, Western Samar; Bislig and Gingoog cities, Misamis Oriental; Dapa, Surigao Del Norte; Iligan City and Cagayan De Oro City.

Intensity II was felt in Cebu City; Talocogon, Agusan del Sur; Dumaguete City; Tagbilaran City, Bohol; Capoocan, Leyte; El Salvador, Misamis Oriental; and Oroquieta City and Plaridel, Misamis Occidental.

Phivolcs added that at least three earthquakes, including a strong magnitude 4.1, struck Northern Luzon late Friday.

Phivolcs said the magnitude 4.1 tremor struck off the coast of Ilocos Norte at 8:10 p.m. on Friday. Its epicenter was located at 43 kilometers northwest of the municipality of Pasuquin.

Phivolcs said Intensity II was felt in Pasuquin, although no damage was reported in relation to the quake.

At 5:41 a.m. yesterday, a magnitude 2.7 quake was recorded 26 kilometers southwest of Candon, Ilocos Norte.

Another magnitude 2 tremor was recorded at 3:04 p.m. yesterday, with the epicenter located 25 southwest of Calayan, Cagayan.

Even as families in coastal areas in Surigao City were reported to have been evacuated to higher ground in fear of a tsunami, Phivolcs did not issue a tsunami alert.

Phivolcs said no tsunami alert warning was issued since the movement of the fault was sideways, hence no water was displaced despite its offshore location.

The last major earthquake that struck Surigao was in the 1800s, Solidum said. A magnitude 7.7 quake killed nearly 2,000 people in Central Luzon in 1990.  – AP, Janvic Mateo, Edith Regalado, Christina Mendez, Sheila Crisostomo, Louella Desiderio, Evelyn Macairan, Jaime Laude, Danessa Rivera, Rudy Santos.