Classes, work suspended in Naga City after 4.3 quake, aftershocks rock Camarines Sur

GUINOBATAN, Albay—Classes and work were suspended Friday in Naga, Camarines Sur, which was hit Thursday evening by a 4.3-magnitude quake and 20 aftershocks.

Mayor Nelson Legacion ordered the suspension of all classes regardless of learning delivery and asked public and private companies to do the same to give way to structural safety inspections.

“I am also enjoining all administrators of public and private offices to exercise prudence and grant consideration to workers by suspending work in the morning and resuming operations only in the afternoon … after the buildings are cleared and declared safe by safety officers,” he said in a statement posted online.

Online classes were also suspended in the neighboring Canaman town, the center of the quake and its aftershocks.

The Mariners’ Polytechnic College Foundation of Canaman also suspended classes after the college’s student body requested it.

Inspections

The tremors caused the glass door of a convenience store to break and the walls in residential houses and some establishments to crack.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), said it recorded 20 aftershocks from 1:20 a.m. to 5 a.m. Friday after the 10:08 p.m. quake on Thursday.

The initial quake was felt at Intensity 5 in Canaman; Intensity 4 in the towns of Calabanga, Camaligan, Gainza, Ocampo, Pili, and Sipocot;

Intensity 3 in Naga City and Intensity 2 in Buhi town.

Six of the aftershocks have felt intensities, including the first aftershock that measured magnitude 4.2. and was felt at Intensity 4 in Canaman, Milaor, Pili, San Fernando, and Sipocot and City of Naga; Intensity 3 in Ocampo town; and Intensity 2 in Legazpi City in Albay.

The quakes sent several Naga City residents out of their homes before dawn on Friday.

Security officers in Naga City continued to inspect establishments after the earthquakes.

Elmer Pitallano, chief of security operations in the city’s public market, said they asked permission from the mayor to allow the inspection of the Naga City People’s Mall, which was built in the 1960s.

No three-wheeled vehicles were allowed to enter the market while waiting for the safety clearance from the City Engineer’s Office (CEO).

Legacion and CEO head Alexander Caning also inspected the Jesse M. Robredo Coliseum, where vaccination was scheduled.

Legacion later approved the Vaccination Operations Team to proceed with the inoculation activity for the day.

“No damage has been reported or observed to churches and museums in Naga,” Alec Santos, the head of the city’s Arts, Culture and Tourism Office, said on social media. “A portion of the trail leading to Malabsay Falls on Mt. Isarog has been damaged by a rockslide and is scheduled for repair and preventive maintenance.”

Aftershocks

Phivolcs volcanologist Paul Alanis said a series of aftershocks for strong quakes is normal.

“In fact, for the Masbate earthquake, we can still detect aftershocks,” he told The Inquirer in a phone interview.

A 6.6-magnitude earthquake hit Masbate on Aug. 18, 2020, and killed two residents.

Authorities also advised residents against believing a scare spreading on social media of a stronger quake to hit Naga City after the aftershocks.

“With the current technology, we cannot predict earthquakes, especially if we want to mention an exact date,” Alanis said.

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