2,000 living on Mt. Apo foot moved to safety amid landslide fears after quake

KIDAPAWAN CITY–At least 2,000 residents of the village of Ilomavis in this city were forcibly evacuated after the 6.3 magnitude quake that struck parts of Mindanao left landslides and fissures on the ground near their houses.

Kidapawan City Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM) Officer Psalmer Bernalte said 737 families, or 2,000 individuals, had to be evacuated to keep them safe as aftershocks continued to be felt in the area.

Landslides, land fissures and fallen rocks had dotted Ilomavis, a village at the foot of Mt. Apo here where the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) built houses in 1992 to relocate residents displaced by the state company’s geothermal project.

Nancy Bringas, a resident of PNOC’s Lake Agco relocation site, said that after Wednesday’s quake, the people stayed in their houses during the day but spent their nights on a covered court.

A 97- meter long fissure on the ground was discovered at Purok 7, a community at the village, where 21 houses stood.

Aside from the houses at the Lake Agco relocation site, there are 48 more houses nearby that are threatened by landslide.

Bernalte said he recommended to the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (CDRRMC) the relocation of families in the relocation site.

Another resident, Jimmy Bayawan, said it was not clear yet when the people would be allowed to return to their homes as aftershocks continued./TSB