AT LEAST one person was injured while 500 homes were damaged after a magnitude 6 earthquake hit Wao, Lanao del Sur on April 12.
Francis Garcia, head of Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Office said over a radio interview that they have so far monitored one injured person identified as 40-year-old Jurie Sagun, while an estimated 500 households were damaged in West Kili-Kili, Wao, Lanao del Sur.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has recorded a series of mild aftershocks after a magnitude 6 earthquake hit Wao, Lanao del Sur and almost all parts of Northern Mindanao at about 5:21 am, Wednesday, April 12.
Arsenio delos Reyes, barangay chair of West Kili-Kili, said an elementary school was damaged by the earthquake.
Also, Jessica Gumban, head of Kalilangan town's municipal disaster risk reduction office said that about 4 barangays were affected by the quake.
Gumban said they have monitored cracks in bridges and national highways but rescue teams from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) were quick to respond and placed road blocks in the affected highways.
Although these are only minor cracks, Gumban said, other bridges are not passable by heavy equipment at the moment.
She said power was out for about an hour since the earthquake happened, after two electric posts were down.
Patients in the hospitals were also temporarily placed outside the hospital vicinity for fear of aftershocks.
Work was also interrupted in the government offices of Kalilangan, particularly its municipal hall and Provincial Board building as cracks showed after the jolt.
According to the Facebook page of Lanao del Sur, 2 buildings have collapsed in barangay Sumungot, Amai Manabilang, a landslide has occurred in about 2 hectares of corn and coffee in the same town, while cracks along national highways, with 3-5 inches wide have been monitored, and a mosque in barangays Salam and Frankfort, in Amai Manabilang town also showed cracks.
Relief operations are ongoing in Wao town as of press time.
No casualties were reported both in Wao, Kalilangan, and in other affected areas.
DPWH-10 spokesperson Vinah Maghinay said no major infrastructure was damaged.
She however said one lane of the Kalilangan-Lampanusan road was closed due to damages, but so far, this is the only road that was affected by the quake.
According to Phivolcs' earthquake bulletin, there are about 15 aftershocks recorded in the municipality of Wao as of 8:39 p.m. Wednesday, with the strongest aftershock recorded at magnitude 4.7 and occurred at 1:01 p.m.
Phivolcs initially reported the epicenter at six kilometers east of the Kalilangan town, Bukidnon province (07.76°N, 124.81°E) with magnitude 5.5 but later corrected it to be six kilometers (km) northwest of the poblacion of Wao, Lanao del Sur (07.66°N, 124.69°E), and is of tectonic origin with a depth of focus of 1 km.
It was also felt at Intensity IV in Cagayan de Oro City, Davao City, Cotabato City, and Gingoog City in Misamis Oriental, Intensity III in Kabacan town in North Cotabato, towns of Maramag, Quezon and Don Carlos in Bukidnon and Lebak, Sultan Kudarat; Intensity II in Kidapawan City and Koronadal City; and Intensity I in Camiguin, Misamis Oriental.
Phivolcs-Northern Mindanao regional director Marcial Labininay said Kalilangan was first identified as the epicenter of the quake because during the time, data was still being gathered and was continuously coming in.
The strongest earthquake in the region was recorded in 2002 in Bukidnon with magnitude 5.6.
Labininay said the region has four active faults, namely: Tagoloan River Fault, Cabanglasan Fault in Balingasag town, the fault line in Alubijid town, and Central Mindanao Fault, which is the most active and longest fault line in Northern Mindanao that stretches from Gingoog City to Malaybalay City in Bukidnon.