THREE people were killed in the magnitude 6.5 inland earthquake that hit parts of Mindanao Thursday morning, bringing to 18 the total death toll from the three major quakes in the last two weeks of October.
The latest tectonic quake, which was the third major one in a span of just two weeks, also caused the collapse of a residential condominium building in Davao City.
A report from the Office of the Civil Defense in Soccsksargen (OCD-12) said the three fatalities were hit by falling debris in Makilala town in Cotabato.
"Hinihintay pa namin 'yung report kasi isa pa lang 'yung narerecord na wounded kasi ongoing pa 'yung operations nila ngayon. We are waiting for the number of injured kung meron man," Maimai Balmediano, information officer of OCD-12 said.
NDRRMC spokesperson Mark Timbal said that based on reports from their local office several buildings sustained major damage and on the verge of collapse after the earthquake, which occurred at 9:11 a.m. Thursday.
"Wala pong trapped persons sa loob ng hotel, may mga 'di lang nakalabas na mga tao from the clinic sa likod ng Eva's Hotel," he said.
(No one is trapped in the hotel. But some people failed to go out of the clinic at the back of Eva's Hotel.)
"As of now, they have all evacuated to safe areas," Timbal added.
Timbal said that based on reports from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), the latest tremor was not an aftershock of the October 29, 2019 quake.
"According to our contacts in Phivolcs, this is a separate incident. This is not connected. It is a separate incident from the October 29 and October 16 (quakes)," he said.
"What we have received here is that ipinapakita nito na high ang seismic activity doon sa area, may mga fault na present sa area. They have shown activities lately," he added.
(This shows that there is a high seismic activity in the area. There are faults in the area.)
Unlike the first two major earthquakes, this latest tremor occurred around 33 kilometers northeast of Tulunan, Cotabato, but at the same depth of eight kilometers as the October 16 quake.
Phivolcs initially reported that the quake occurred at a depth of two kilometers, but revised this to six kilometers and further to eight kilometers in its latest advisory. The quake was also plotted initially at 33 kilometers from Tulunan, but Phivolcs revised this 28 kilometers and further to 27 kilometers.
Previous earthquakes
The first major tremor on October 16, a magnitude 6.3 quake at a depth of eight kilometers, was plotted at 22 kilometers southeast of Tulunan. The October 29 quake, which had greater magnitude of 6.6 and a depth of seven kilometers, was centered around 25 kilometers southeast of Tulunan.
Since October 16, thousands of earthquakes with lesser magnitude and aftershocks have been plotted in the area.
Seven individuals were killed in the October 16 quake while the death toll from the October 29 quake has increased to eight, the NDRRMC said.
The casualties were identified as Nestor Narciso, 66; Samuel Linao, 44; Renee Corpuz Andy, 7; Marichelle Moria, 23; Patricio Lumayon, 65; Pao Zailon Abdullah, 64; Isidro Gomez, 63; and Jesriel Pabra.
The NDRRMC said two more people were missing while 395 others were injured.
The NDRRMC also reported that a total of 2,704 structures in Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao Region, Soccsksargen and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) were damaged.
Of the total, 2,252 were residential houses, 398 schools, 13 health facilities, 10 public structures, one place of worship, 22 private and commercial establishments and eight roads and bridges.
The NDRRMC said at least 5,126 families, or 25,630 individuals, were affected in 59 barangays in Davao region and Soccsksargen.
Of the total, 2,552 families or 12,760 persons were evacuated.
The agency assured that relief goods were distributed to the affected population from concerned government agencies. (SunStar Philippines)