LEGAZPI CITY –– The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has recorded at least 60 aftershocks within 25 hours since the 6.6. magnitude earthquake struck the town of Cataingan of Masbate province on Tuesday and caused widespread damage in the town.
The latest aftershock was at 9:23 a.m. on Wednesday, recorded at magnitude 3.6, and a depth of 21 kilometers about 30 km southeast of Cataingan, according to a bulletin released by Phivolcs.
Local officials initially placed the damage to infrastructure in the town at P24 million, according to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Bicol.
OCD-Bicol also confirmed that soil liquefaction, sinkhole, and landslide were reported in several villages in Cataingan and Pio V. Corpus.
The OCD report has recorded one death and 48 injuries as a result of the quake.
At least 30 families or about 150 persons living in Cataingan town proper were given refuge at the town’s National High School since Tuesday night, the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) said on Wednesday.
Venus Rojo, MDRRM chief, said almost all of the residents in the town were still in a state of shock following the strong earthquake and the series of aftershocks that they felt over the past 24 hours.
Rojo, in a phone interview, said nine commercial buildings sustained structural cracks, three of which were recommended by municipal engineers to be declared uninhabitable and for demolition.
Rojo said they were still assessing the condition in the coastal village of Matayum that is now inundated by meter-high sea water, affecting ten houses.
Operation of the Cataingan Port, on the other hand, continued despite road cracks and the elevation of a portion of the port main docking area, Rojo said.
The port, a key link in the Luzon-Visayas-Mindanao nautical highway, is a transshipment point between Cebu and Metro Manila. Most cargo trucks and passenger buses heading to Cebu from Metro Manila or other parts of Luzon travel to Masbate via Pilar Port in Sorsogon and on to Bogo City in northern Cebu via the Cataingan port via roll on-roll off vessels.
Despite the damage to the port, a vessel from Cebu arrived at 5:30 a.m on Wednesday “to unload cargo shipment,” Rojo added.