Published July 6, 2017, 9:02 PM By Mars Mosqueda and Francis Wakefield
A strong earthquake struck Leyte
Thursday afternoon, and there were initial reports of collapsed infrastructure,
cracked roads, and landslides that resulted in the death of at least two people
– one in Ormoc City and another in Kananga town – and the injury of scores of
others throughout the province.
Philippine Institute of Volcanology
and Seismology (Phivolcs) Deputy Director Bartolome Bautista said the quake hit
at 4:03 p.m. and registered at magnitude 6.5 with its epicenter located eight
kilometers southwest of Jaro, Leyte, and had a depth of two kilometers.
The tremor was felt at Intensity 5
in Tacloban City, Palo, Leyte, and Cebu City, Intensity 4 in Tolosa, Leyte,
Sagay City, Negros Occidental, Burgos, Surigao del Norte, Intensity 3 in Bogo
City, Cebu, Calatrava, Negros Occidental, Intensity 2 in Libjo, San Jose,
Cagdianao, Dinagat Islands, and Intensity 1 in Roxas City, La Carlota City; Negros
Occidental.
The quake cut power in the whole of
Leyte and parts of Cebu and Bohol, and employees at the Iloilo City Hall were
evacuated.
Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez
confirmed one death – 18-year-old Rizza Rosales – in the mountain village of
Cabaon-an in his city which was hit by a landslide during the tremor. Her
five-month-old child was rescued.
Gomez also said there 40 casualties
as a result of the earthquake in Ormoc, but most were trauma victims.
Gomez said cracks were seen in three
major highways, but all roads in and out of the city were passable.
He added that Ormoc airport was
damaged, resulting in the cancellation of all flights.
Asked how strong the quake was felt
in Ormoc, Gomez said: “Naisip ko, baka katapusan ko na. Malakas talaga; siguro
tumagal din ng mga 15 seconds (I thought to myself, this might be my end. It
was really strong; perhaps it lasted 15 seconds).”
He ordered the suspension of classes
and work and convened his disaster response and management council even as the
city was hit by an outage.
Rescuers were rushing to the town of
Kananga where a three-story commercial building collapsed as the tremor struck
Leyte, town mayor Rowena Codilla told DZBB radio.
“We were able to retrieve one dead
and one injured,” Mayor Codilla said.
The rescue is hampered by
aftershocks that continued to rock the area and lack of proper equipment, she
said.
Kananga Vice Mayor Elmer Codilla
said rescuers pulled out six people from the collapsed building.
“There are still more people inside,
maybe more than five. The rescue operation is ongoing,” he added.
Two of those trapped managed to send
text messages seeking help, the vice mayor said.
Officials retrieved one dead body
while six people were rescued without injuries, Vice Mayor Codilla said.
Leyte Governor Dominico Petilla said
rescue personnel, ambulances and heavy equipment have been sent to the
mountainous town of about 50,000 people.
“They’re still trying to pull out
the injured,” Petilla told CNN Philippines television.
The 10-year-old building housed a
small hotel upstairs and shops on the ground floor, officials said.
‘Bound to crumble’
Tacloban and Ormoc were without
power along with large sections of the island, residents said.
Roy Ribo, an official with a
farmers’ organization who was visiting Kananga, told AFP the commercial
building was heavily damaged and “ready to collapse” when he passed by shortly
after the quake.
“I took a quick picture but it was
bound to crumble,” said Ribo, who added he immediately fled the area, driving
through paved roads that were cracked by the quake.
He said the tremor struck while he
was meeting local officials outside a power plant on the outskirts of Kananga.
“It normally emits white smoke but
after the quake, it emitted dark smoke,” Ribo added.
Teachers herded panicked grade
school students out of the classrooms at the Rizal National High School near
the power plant, he said.
“Many children were hysterical. They
were frantic, crying,” he added.
Father Romy Salazar, the Catholic
parish priest of the Leyte town of Jaro that was at the quake’s epicenter, told
AFP power was cut off and residents rushed out of their homes as the town
shook.
“I was inside the church. I was
forced to hold on to the main door,” Salazar said, but added he had not seen
any major damage in the town.
In Manila, National Disaster Risk
Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) Romina Marasigan said reports reaching
Camp Aguinaldo cited at least 10 people injured in a two-story pension house
that collapsed in Kananga, Leyte.
“Initially it was confirmed to us by
Kananga Vice Mayor Codilla that a pension house collapsed. The Bureau of Fire
and Protection (BFP), Philippine National Police (PNP) and rescue unit of
Kananga are there conducting rescue operations,” Marasigan told The Manila
Bulletin.
Pressed for more information on the
situation at the Queda Building which housed a grocery store, Marasigan said:
“We still don’t have any information. It’s difficult to call Leyte as
communication is down… initially, it was reported to be three-story, but it was
just two stories.”
“Iyung bagsak n’ya parang pancake,
hindi napunta sa left or right (It collapsed like a pancake, it didn’t lean to
the left or right),” Marasigan added.
In Tagbilaran City, there is still
no word when Bohol is getting its power back after it plunged into a total
blackout following the earthquake. Bohol sources its electricity supply
from Leyte.
Betty Martinez of the National Grid
Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said the two 138 kv circuits supplying
electricity to Bohol tripped around 4:06 p.m., leaving the island province
without power.
Cebu power restored
In Cebu, power was also cut but came
back on in less than 30 minutes.
Phivolcs Visayas OIC Robinsons
Jorgio said there were reports of damage to structures and buildings in Jaro
and Canangga towns.
Jorgio downplayed rumors of a
tsunami, saying the epicenter was situated inland.
He said the tremor was felt as far
as La Carlota, Negros and Catarman, Northern Samar.
In Cebu City, the city government
suspended work at city hall on the recommendation of the city disaster office.
All levels were suspended.
“Cebu city Administrator Nigel Paul
Villarete ordered for the suspension of work at city hall at 4:25 p.m. today as
engineers are checking on the Executive and Legislative Buildings,” said city
disaster offer Nagiel Banacia on his Facebook page.
Phivolcs said the earthquake was
tectonic, which is caused by ground shaking primarily due to the sudden
movement in the earth’s plates.
The earthquake was too shallow at a
depth of 2 kilometers, thus the strong shaking.
Phivolcs warned that the tremor may
continue to generate aftershocks “for several days to weeks, some of which may
be felt.” (With reports from Dave Albarado, Nestor L. Abrematea, Restituto
Cayubit, Ellalyn de Vera Ruiz, AFP, and PNA)
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