Abra earthquake affects 62,024 families, injures 320 – NDRRMC

SACRED BUT SCARRED A portion of an old Catholic church in Tayum, Abra province, one of its treasured heritage sites, is reduced to this following Wednesday’s magnitude 7 earthquake. —Reuters

MANILA, Philippines — The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (NDRRMC) on Saturday reported that the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that hit Abra on Wednesday left 320 injured.

The earthquake also affected 228,238 individuals or 62,024 families, all of whom are from the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley and the Cordillera Administrative Region, the NDRRMC’s latest Abra earthquake primer said.

Meanwhile, six persons were verified to have been killed by the earthquake. However, the total number of deaths is now at 10 as the NDRRMC said it is still waiting for the official report on the four additional deaths.

The disaster management body said the updated death toll will be reflect in the next situation report to be released.

The primer also showed that the earthquake displaced 6,176 families or 1,910 families who are now in 46 evacuation centers,  as well as 27,207 individuals or 6,490 families who are not in evacuation centers.

The NDRRMC also placed the cost of damage to infrastructure at P413,860,000.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) earlier warned that aftershocks may happen for several days and even up to months.

As of 7:00 a.m., Saturday, Phivolcs said it has recorded 1,375 aftershocks ranging from magnitude 1.5 to 5.0

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