MANILA, Philippines — The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council has warned the public that the advisory of a stronger earthquake attributed to the agency is a hoax.
The agency, in a public advisory on Tuesday night, appealed to the public not to share, like or forward the text message, which contained a warning of a magnitude 8.0 earthquake.
.“We want to state that the said text messages are a hoax and are false,” NDRRMC said.
NDRRMC reminds public not to share advisories, sent via text messages that claim to be from the agency, warning of 8.0 magnitude earthquake. The NDRRMC says the message is a hoax. | via @kristinepatag pic.twitter.com/8gTDKtzP3H
— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) April 23, 2019
It also stressed that their text messages are sent using the account named “NDRRMC” only, not using any number.
On Monday afternoon, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake hit Luzon. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said data pointed to Castillejos, Zambales as the quake’s epicenter.
The province of Pampanga was badly hit by the quake. Death toll has risen to 16 as of this story’s posting, and the number of dead is expected to rise as rescuers continue to dig through a collapsed supermarket in Porac town.
READ: WATCH: Rescuers help man trapped in collapsed Porac supermarket
Hours after the strong quake hit Luzon, Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum allayed fears that it was the so-called “Big One,” a hypothetical magnitude-7.2 earthquake on the West Valley Fault.
READ: 'Not a major earthquake,' Phivolcs assures public
A day later, April 23, a magnitude 6.5 quake jolted Eastern Visayas, its epicenter was traced at nine kilometres northwest of San Julian, Eastern Samar.
This was followed by a magnitude 4.5 that jolted parts of Luzon early Wednesday morning.
The NDRRMC, however, urged the public to remain alert in any threat of calamity, and to visit its website, ndrrmc.gov.ph and the Office of Civil Defense Facebook page for more information.