CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines—More than 800 homes and businesses were damaged when a 5.6-magnitude earthquake rocked Bukidnon, a province in southern Philippines early Tuesday, officials said.
Cracks snaked across walls and roofs collapsed when the quake struck this southern island of Mindanao before dawn, said Patrick Callanta, operations chief of the civil defence office in Cagayan de Oro city.
“Houses and commercial buildings suffered cracks on their walls or floors. Some roofs collapsed,” Callanta told AFP by telephone. “The quake struck while people slept.”
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the quake struck at 3:44 a.m. (1944 GMT Monday) and the epicentre was plotted near Maramag, a town of about 90,000 people where 316 buildings were damaged, Callanta said.
Disaster officials in the region said 544 houses, shops and other commercial buildings sustained damage in Valencia city, populated by 163,000 people.
1 injured, no casualty
In its latest update, one person was reportedly injured by falling debris.
Ana Cañeda, regional director of Office of Civil Defense Region 10, identified the victim as 34-year-old Angelina Comahig.
Her injuries were sustained from falling debris, Cañeda told INQUIRER.net
Cañeda also denied reports that there were fatalities from the earthquake. With a report from INQUIRER.net
Phivolcs earlier told INQUIRER.net the tremor, which was tectonic in origin, had a depth of 3 kilometers, located 15 kilometers northwest of Maramag at 3:44 a.m.
It was felt at Intensity V Musuan, Maramag (Bukidnon); Intensity IV – Valencia City (Bukidnon); Arakan, North Cotabato; Intensity III – Malaybalay City (Bukidnon); Cagayan De Oro City, Misamis Oriental; Kidapawan City; and Intensity II – Butuan City; Cotabato City.
131 aftershocks
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said in its 5p.m. update that about 131 aftershocks were recorded by Phivolcs.
Friday’s 7.6- magnitude quake in the Visayas had 447 aftershocks so far as of 8 a.m. Tuesday. It hit the country’s east coast, triggering a tsunami alert that forced more than 130,000 to flee their homes and causing a landslide that killed one person in Cagayan de Oro.
The Philippines sits on the Pacific Rim of Fire—a belt around the Pacific Ocean dotted by active volcanoes and unstable ocean trenches.
A 5.9 quake also struck at sea off Mindanao on Monday, but caused no damage or casualties.