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Friday, May 21, 2004
Quake damages new P49M mart in Bohol
CEBU CITY -- An earthquake that shook parts of Central Visayas Thursday morning damaged a new P49-million market in Tubigon, Bohol, as well as its municipal hall and some houses.
Lives and property were spared in Cebu, where the quake registered four on the Richter scale in Cebu City and three in Argao town and Lapu-Lapu City.
Councilor Gerardo Carillo, Cebu City's action officer, instructed the Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council to activate its monitoring system as of 8 a.m.
As of Thursday afternoon, however, he received no reports from the field on the earthquake's effects on the city.
Hardest hit was Tubi-gon town in Bohol, where the epicenter of the 5:28 a.m. quake was located.
A Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) information bulletin showed that the quake was measured at varying intensities in Bohol: six in Tubigon, five in Loboc, four in Corrella and three in Tagbilaran City.
Robinson Jorgio, Phivolcs 7 chief, said the intensity varies depending on the area's nearness to the epicenter and its "geological structure" or the type of ground it sits on.
Metro Cebu generally sits on reclaimed area, so the tremors here were stronger than those in Lapu-Lapu City, despite it being closer to Bohol, because it sits on natural ground.
Residents of Barangay Caubian, one of Lapu-Lapu City's island barangays and the closest barangay to Bohol, did not even know there was an earthquake.
But in Tubigon, it was a rude awakening.
ABS-CBN Cebu reported that the quake, which lasted for five to seven seconds, affected Tubigon's seven barangays. TV footage showed destroyed ceilings of the town hall and the collapsed or cracked walls of some houses.
Part of the top cement wall of the Tubigon Commercial Complex fell to the ground, almost hitting two police vehicles, said SPO1 Dionisio Coscos of Tubigon Police Station.
Two cement slabs, which Coscos described as similar to the size of a tricycle's roof, fell from the highest wall of the two-story public market.
He said the concrete chunks hit first the signage of Eden Pawnshop, which is among the commercial establishments of the building, before they landed on the ground.
"Luckily, no one was around when the slabs fell to the ground. Our service vehicles would have been damaged," said Coscos, whose police office occupies the second floor of the edifice.
Coscos said the building was left with at least four cracks on the second floor.
He stressed a need for the local engineers to reexamine the structure to ensure that it is still safe for occupancy.
The new Tubigon Commercial Complex was recently completed and turned over to the Municipal Government only about two months ago.
Coscos also said a one-story concrete house in Barangay Panaytayon was leveled, but fortunately the occupants were already outside and no one was injured.
The Municipal Disaster Coordinating Council has not ordered evacuation or relief operations in the affected barangays because the damage was minimal.
A portion of the wall of Corella public market also broke and a slab about one foot long fell by the roadside.
Mayor Paulo Lasco said some residents from Barangays Poblacion, Ilihan Sur, Kahayag and Panaytayon also reported cracks in their houses, but there was no need to give them aid because the damage was minor.
"Nothing to worry about," he said.
Gov. Erico Aumentado, on the other hand, said no tremor was felt in Tagbilaran City and he has not also received reports about any damage caused in different towns.
There were reports of an aftershock but Jorgio said they did not record any other tectonic movements for the rest of the day.
Although it is the Province of Leyte that lies in the Philippine Fault Zone, Bohol has a local fault system and incidents there are sometimes felt in Cebu, Jorgio explained.
Last March 28, twin mild earthquakes also shook the Visayas and residents of Bohol and Cebu experienced tremors at intensity four and intensity three, respectively. GC/CYR/OCP/RHM/AIV |
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