Quake triggers evacuation in Masbate hospital

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake sways Monreal town in Masbate on Tuesday, August 27, 2024, according to Phivolcs. —Photo from Phivolcs/Facebook

LEGAZPI CITY, ALBAY, Philippines — Around 300 patients were evacuated by attendants out of the Masbate Provincial Hospital in Masbate City when a magnitude 5 earthquake struck on Tuesday night.

The attendants hurriedly took the patients outside the building on rolling hospital beds and wheelchairs as a precaution from the quake that the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) later said was detected at 9:01 p.m. some 15 kilometers southwest of Monreal town.

Ground shaking was felt at Intensity V in Masbate City, which is 80 km away from Monreal.

READ: Magnitude 5 quake jolts Masbate

The patients were temporarily sheltered in tents installed outside the hospital, where they stayed until Wednesday morning due to fear of aftershocks. No one was hurt.

Phivolcs said the quake was felt at Intensity IV in Monreal, Batuan, and San Fernando towns; and Intensity III in Aroroy, Baleno, Claveria, Dimasalang, Milagros, Mobo, and Uson in Masbate, and some parts of Northern Samar and Samar provinces.

Masbate City resident Bernadine Dechavez, 39, in a private message on Wednesday, said they stayed outside their house for more than 30 minutes after the ground shaking stopped, anticipating aftershocks.

“The shaking of our house lasted for a long period, and we heard the concrete walls cracking,” said Dechavez, a resident of Barangay Espinosa.

Isaias Bigol, Jr., head of the city disaster risk reduction and management office, said their initial assessment showed that there was no significant damage in public and private buildings and major infrastructure.

“The wall cracks were just plastering problems, and there was no damage in columns and beams,” Bigol said in a phone interview on Wednesday. —Ma. April Mier-Manjares