6.2 quake triggers evacuation, false alarms

BACOLOD CITY—Hundreds of residents of Sipalay City and two towns in Negros Occidental fled homes, schools and offices on Tuesday following a 6.2-magnitude quake that triggered false alarms, including one on a supposed tsunami approaching thickly populated areas.

In Cauayan town, residents pulled children out of schools as news spread of evacuations in neighboring communities.

Classes were suspended in Sipalay, Cauayan and the town of Hinobaan.

Cauayan Mayor John Rey Tabujara said schools cancelled classes in his town after parents panicked and took their children home amid aftershocks.

The Negros Occidental provincial social welfare office reported that 7,000 Sipalay residents escaped to higher ground, bringing their belongings after the main quake struck. They returned home by afternoon.

In Hinobaan town, at least 1,000 residents fled to higher ground in panic, said Mayor Ma. Teresa Bilbao. She said residents refused to believe that no tsunami warning has been raised.

No tsunami alert has been raised but the residents, who had just undergone a workshop on what to do during a tsunami, were apparently taking precautions, Bilbao said.

Dr. Jane Punongbayan, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) supervising science research specialist, said the 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit 4:47 a.m. and was tectonic in origin, or caused by movements of plates in the Negros Trench.

The main quake triggered 64 aftershocks that lasted from 5 a.m. until noon. The epicenter of the main quake was offshore in Cauayan.

Punongbayan said the Phivolcs was closely monitoring the movement of the Negros Trench after five quakes struck the area since Monday.

“We cannot say when the earthquake episodes will end because the Negros Trench is active,” she said.

Punongbayan was one of the resource persons at the June 27 to July 1 workshop conducted by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center in Sipalay and a drill on tsunami evacuation was being scheduled.

“What happened (yesterday) was a very good drill. We were told people with vehicles got to higher ground in 10 minutes, and those without in 30 minutes,” Punongbayan said.

“There is a very high awareness among residents and if a real tsunami had hit Sipalay City, for sure we would have many survivors,” she said.

Punongbayan explained that a 6.5-magnitude earthquake could trigger small tsunamis. A 7-magnitude quake is known to trigger major tsunamis, she added.

The dawn quake also forced a call center company to halt operations for almost an hour in Cebu City.

Mike Barote, of the ELI Global Phils. on F. Ramos Street in Cebu City, said at least 60 employees on the eighth and ninth floors of the call center office left the building when they felt shaking.

The employees returned past 5 a.m. Workers in the higher floors of the eight-story JSU-PSU Mariners’ Court Cebu in Pier 1 in the city also went out of their offices when the quake struck.

No injuries or damage were reported. The strongest aftershocks struck in Cauayan at magnitude 5.7 and magnitude 5.5.