Isabela hospital sustains cracks from 5.5 quake

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – A government-run hospital in Isabela sustained cracks after a magnitude 5.5 quake struck the province and other parts of northern Luzon Saturday night. 

Superintendent Roberto Bucad, Isabela police information officer, said cracks were spotted on the three-story Faustino Dy Provincial Hospital in the capital town of Ilagan after the tremor, followed by at least seven aftershocks, jolted the province.

No one was killed or injured during the quake, which was also felt but in lesser intensity in Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Cagayan, Benguet, Ifugao and Ilocos Norte at around 9 p.m. Saturday.

Reports said the quake prompted the hospital’s patients and personnel to evacuate the building for fear of stronger aftershocks.

They were later prevailed upon to return to their rooms after authorities ensured their safety despite the cracks on some walls.

“(The quake) created panic among the hospital’s patients who immediately evacuated their rooms. However, there are no reported casualties or persons injured from (the tremor),” Bucad said.

“Some cracks were noticed inside the building, particularly on the second floor,” said Conrad de los Reyes of Isabela-based radio station dwDY.

Besides the provincial hospital, authorities were still checking other public and private facilities that may have sustained damage, too, from the quake.

The epicenter of the quake, which was tectonic in origin, was estimated five kilometers northeast of Ilagan town.

Last Saturday’s earthquake caused panic among residents as it came on the wake of claims being peddled by a US fundamentalist religious group that “Judgment Day” – the end of the world – would happen that day.

Nearly all activities in the Grand Ammungan Festival, marking Nueva Vizcaya’s 172nd founding anniversary, were cut short after the quake struck.

Festival goers hurriedly went home, fearing that the temblor might be a sign of the end of the world as claimed by the religious group.

“We preferred returning home and be with our families. Better to perish altogether,” said councilor Regie Valino-Valdez of Solano town.

The tremor also left alumni of the Ilagan-based Saint Ferdinand School, who were celebrating their homecoming, shaken and scampering for safety. Among the alumni present during the event was Senior Superintendent Jaime Rivera, Isabela police director.

A standby generator saved the alumni’s ball as a widespread blackout followed the quake.