5 museums in earthquake-hit areas temporarily closed

The Ilocos Regional Museum Complex in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur is one of five museums temporarily closed while their personnel are conducting an assessment of the effects of the Abra earthquake on their buildings. (Photo from the Facebook page of National Museum Ilocos)

MANILA, Philippines — Five museums affected by the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Abra are temporarily closed, the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

Following are the temporarily closes museums:

• Ilocos Regional Museum Complex in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur
• Cagayan Valley Regional Museum in Peñablanca, Cagayan
• Batanes Area Museum in Uyugan, Batanes
• Cordillera Rice Terraces Site Museum in Kiangan, Ifugao
• Kabayan Burial Caves Site Museum in Kabayan, Benguet

“These facilities will be closed to the public for the time being until a complete assessment has been made to ensure that the integrity of these structures remains intact,” the NMP said.

The NMP said the personnel of the museums had started making a “constant effort” to appraise the effects of the earthquake on their buildings.

Five people died when the tremor hit northeast of Langilang, Abra, at 8:43 a.m, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

As of this writing, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has recorded 280 aftershocks.

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