Another big quake rocks Mindanao

Davao City among those hit by 6.5 Magnitude quake

MANILA,Philippines — The third earthquake to hit Mindanao in less than a month measured magnitude 6.5. It struck as several towns were still reeling from two quakes in October.

The foundations of several buildings and homes had already been weakened by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake that struck on Oct. 16 and a magnitude 6.6 temblor last Tuesday.

Yesterday’s quake – whose epicenter was again traced to Tulunan, North Cotabato – destroyed Eva’s Hotel in Kidapawan City, with the lobby and a bank on the ground floor collapsing and causing the building to lean on an adjacent hospital.

Both the hotel and the hospital had been ordered abandoned because of damage from the previous quake. But six employees and an engineer were inside the five-story hotel when the ground shook at midmorning yesterday, the Kidapawan City Risk Reduction and Management Council (CRRMC) said.

Kidapawan Mayor Joseph Evangelista said they were able to go out of the hotel when the temblor occurred.

“They’re supposed to inspect the building with an engineer then it happened. They managed to run out,” Evangelista told dzMM radio.

The hospital and the hotel, its concrete columns precariously leaning and rooms exposed without walls and windows, were cordoned off as they may collapse any time, he said.

North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza said the barangay hall in Batasan village in Makilala town had collapsed and the barangay chairman, Cesar Bangot, was pinned to death.

Romel Galicia, 20, of Barangay Luayon, was pinned to death by a fallen tree while Precilla Verona, of Barangay San Isidro, died after being hit by debris, officials said.

Seven-year-old Juve Gabriel Jauod, of Barangay

Buenavida, died from head injuries after being hit by a cinder block from a collapsing concrete wall. Tessie Alcaide of Sitio Kapatagan, Barangay Luayon, was buried in a landslide that hit their village during the earthquake.

One fault

Yesterday’s quake occurred 33 kilometers northeast of Tulunan town in Cotabato province.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the magnitude 6.5 quake was set off by movement in a local fault at a depth of six kilometers, about 28 kilometers east of Tulunan.

The region was already devastated by two powerful earthquakes and hundreds of aftershocks last month.

Phivolcs said the strongest tremor at Intensity VII was felt in Tulunan, Kidapawan City in Cotabato province; Sta. Cruz, Matanao, Bansalan and Magsaysay, Davao del Sur.

It was Intensity VI in Tampakan, South Cotabato while Intensity V was felt in General Santos City; Tupi, South Cotabato and Isulan, Sultan Kudarat.

Phivolcs added it was Intensity IV in Lebak, Sultan Kudarat.

State seismologists said they are expecting more damage and aftershocks following the earthquake.

At the same time, Phivolcs said it is now monitoring the possible movement of the Malungon Fault Line, which can produce a magnitude 7.2 earthquake.

Phivolcs Earthquake Monitoring Division officer in charge Ishmael Narag said the series of earthquakes that occurred July 9, Oct. 16, 29 and yesterday could have been triggered by one fault.

Narag shared the observation that the series of strong earthquakes is within the same magnitude range, from 5.5 to 6.5.

Phivolcs advised the people to remain outside their homes and offices given the possibility of more and stronger aftershocks.

“Buildings could be totally knocked down,” said Erlinton Olavere, a science research specialist at Phivolcs.

Phivolcs director Renato Solidum Jr. said the earthquakes in Tulunan were related and warned that aftershocks could last for weeks.

“We have mapped faults and names of it. We know the most likely fault that moved but want to confirm if it ruptured,” Solidum said.

“We will study if the latest event is from a different fault,” he said.

Solidum also appealed to residents, local government units and organizations of engineers in earthquake-hit areas in Mindanao to have their houses and buildings checked, especially those which sustained damage as tremors continue to rock the region.

“Houses and buildings, especially those with damage, should be inspected if these are still resistant to a strong shaking,” he said.

Solidum also urged those who live in areas that are highly susceptible to landslides, especially those that were affected by previous landslides or those with tension cracks, to move to safer ground.

At least eight people died in Tuesday’s magnitude 6.6 quake, two were missing, 395 were injured and more than 2,700 houses and buildings, including schools and hospitals, were damaged, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said.

Regional OCD spokesman Joriamea Balodiano said as per initial assessment, most of the structures in the region that were damaged by the previous quakes were not able to withstand the latest tremor.

Tulunan Mayor Reuel Limbungan reported extensive damage to infrastructure in his town.

Tulunan shares boundaries with the quake-stricken Magsaysay town in Davao del Sur, where two were confirmed killed last Oct. 29 in a landslide, while two others were buried alive in another landslide.

Digos City Mayor Josef Cagas said four establishments were previously damaged by the two quakes. He added that there are now about eight to ten buildings substantially damaged by

yesterday’s strong tremor.

“The destruction is now widespread in the city and a commercial establishment partially collapsed. Around eight to ten buildings are likely to go down if there is another strong quake,” Cagas said.

He added rescuers were able to save two people from a damaged commercial establishment following the earthquake.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, chairman of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), ordered the activation of a joint military task force to fast-track search and rescue operations, as well as the delivery of relief goods to the quake-affected residents.

Lt. Gen. Felimon Santos, commander of the Davao City-based Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom), raised the military alert level in his area of jurisdiction and directed the activation of the disaster response units or the humanitarian assistance and disaster response task force.

Santos added that assets from the Navy, Air Force and Army, as well as military engineers, are now being deployed to conduct disaster response operations in the quake stricken areas.

Philippine Red Cross chairman Sen. Richard Gordon said they immediately dispatched volunteers and rescue teams to different parts of Mindanao badly hit by the quake.

“People have been evacuated such as in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato; the Philippine Red Cross has assisted in evacuation of families,” Gordon said.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) deployed teams to assess the damage caused by the strong earthquake in Mindanao.

DPWH Assistant Secretary Anna Mae Llamentino said the DPWH teams were deployed to assess the “structural integrity, damage of key infrastructure” in 11 areas in Mindanao.

Secretary Silvestre Bello III of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said he had dispatched senior labor officials to check on the possible displacement of workers in quake-affected areas.

Bello said DOLE will allocate funds to provide emergency employment assistance to the affected workers as well as livelihood assistance.

Agusan del Norte Rep. Lawrence Fortun called on government financing institutions and local banks in Mindanao to extend calamity loans to residents affected by the quake.

At the same time, Fortun called on local authorities to secure government records with regard to the compliance of establishments and building owners in the event an investigation may be proper for purposes of finding out who violated the National Building Code. 

“This is to make sure that building permits are not lost or destroyed in the aftermath of the earthquakes because those files could be evidence of criminal negligence of every person whose signature appears on those documents,” Fortun said. 

This is because it is “highly probable that there was little or no enforcement of construction standards in the affected localities” in light of the fact that thousands of homes and scores of buildings were severely damaged in the earthquake.  – Helen Flores, Rhodina Villanueva, John Unson, Roel Pareño, Mayen Jaymalin, Jose Rodel Clapano, Non, Alquitran, Robertzon Ramirez, Romina Cabrera