Girl dies after being pinned down by wall in N. Cotabato quake

DAVAO CITY, Davao del Sur, Philippines — A girl died after being pinned down by wall on Wednesday when a 6.3 magnitude strong earthquake jolted parts of Mindanao.

Earnie Diaz, Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer of the town of Tulunan in North Cotabato, told the Inquirer that 7-year-old Jonave Sendad was rushed by her parents — who are from Maguihndanao — to a hospital at the border of Datu Paglas and Tulunan.

Attending health workers tried to revive Sendad but to no avail, Diaz said.

According to Tulunan Vice Mayor Maureen Villamor, the girl was pinned down by a concrete wall of their house that collapsed during the earthquake.

Villamor said four other people with minor injuries were treated.

The quake caused wo landslides in the town and damaged several structures, including residential and commercial ones.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology earlier posted Tulunan as the epicenter of the strong tectonic earthquake but later changed it to Makilala town.

Intensity 7 was felt in Tulunan, Kidapawan City and M’lang in North Cotabato.

Acting Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza urged all local government units in North Cotabato to suspend classes on Thursday to allow the inspection of school buildings.

“Work in the provincial capitol will be canceled tomorrow to give way for the inspection of buildings, she said. However, all department heads, with their key personnel and all civil engineers of the Provincial Engineering Office (PEO) are directed to report.”

— With reports from Williamor Magbanua and Taher Solaiman