5.6 quake in Bukidnon injures nun, damages 144 houses

CAGAYAN DE ORO (Updated 6:47 p.m.) -- A nun was injured in a village in Valencia City when the concrete wall of the house she is staying collapsed after a 5.6-magnitude earthquake rocked Bukidnon province early Tuesday morning.

Captain Alejandro Larosa, executive officer of the Valencia City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said Sister Angelina Comabig, 34, was hit in her legs and arms when the wall collapsed. She is now being treated in a local hospital.

Larosa said 144 houses and other structures were damaged in one of the aftershocks of the quake.

He said 98 of the 144 damaged houses and structures were in Barangay Guinuyoran.

In Barangay Lourdes, the tremor destroyed three classrooms of an elementary school, as well as the local Catholic and Baptist churches.

The barangay council of Lourdes reported Tuesday that only one house was destroyed while 20 others were damaged. It also said cracks were found at the barangay’s administration building.

Larosa said aside from Guinuyoran and Lourdes, only barangays Lilingayon, Tugaya and Mt. Nebo have submitted damage reports on the quake as of Tuesday morning. Valencia City has 31 barangays.

He said they will go to Tandakol, a village between Lilingayon and Mt. Nebo, to confirm reports that a portion of a hill reportedly cracked and residents were trapped.

The official added that a team from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) went ahead to Tandakol but his staff said the road going to the area was impassable as of 6:48 a.m.

The Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) said the tremor also damaged at least 13 houses and affected an undetermined number of persons in Barangay Kisanday, Maramag town.

The affected residents are now temporary taking shelter at the barangay’s center.

Initial report from the OCD said the 13 houses showed cracked floors, some of which reportedly collapsed. However, no injury was reported.

A staff at the OCD said they still have to determine the cost of damage and the exact number of persons affected by the quake.

Marcial Labininay, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) in Northern Mindanao, said they recorded seven earthquakes since Monday until Tuesday morning.

However, Labininay said only three strong quakes were felt and reported in the province of Bukidnon.

He said Phivolcs also recorded 12 aftershocks.

An updated Phivolcs bulletin measured Tuesday’s 3:44 a.m. tremor at magnitude 5.6 with the epicenter located at 15 kilometer northwest of Maramag town in Bukidnon.

The quake was felt at Musuan and Maramag at intensity 5; Valencia City in Bukidnon and Arakan in North Cotabato at intensity 4; intensity 3 in Malaybalay City, Cagayan de Oro and Kidapawan in Cotabato; and intensity 2 in Butuan and Cotabato cities.

Another bulletin showed that the quake that occurred at 3:52 a.m. with the epicenter at two kilometers southwest of Maramag in Bukidnon was felt at Musuan, Maramag and Valencia at intensity 3 and intensity 2 in Cagayan de Oro City.

In Malaybalay City, a quake was recorded at intensity 4.7 at 9:21 p.m. Monday.

Labininay said three earthquakes also rocked western part of Malaybalay on Monday starting at 6:03 p.m. at intensity 3.7, followed at 6:48 p.m. at intensity 3.4 and 7:45 p.m. at intensity 4.

Another earthquake at intensity 3 also rocked Maramag on Tuesday. Labininay said the quake was due to a still unnamed local fault and was tectonic in origin.

“Our earthquake generator in the country is very active and fertile and we have to be vigilant and be prepared,” Labininay said.

He called on the people not to panic.

Malaybalay City Mayor Ignacio Zubiri said that as of 7:45 a.m. Tuesday, he had not received reports of casualties and damage due to the quake, which is the second to hit Bukidnon in five days.

A total of eight recorded earthquakes occurred in Northern Mindanao in 2012, the last was in July at intensity 2.

Last Friday, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake hit Eastern Samar, affecting several areas in Eastern Visayas and Mindanao, and resulting in the death of a woman in Cagayan de Oro. (Annabelle L. Ricalde/Abigail Chee Kee Malalis/MindaNews/Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro/Sunnex)