Quake stops classes in Cotabato town

CARMEN, North Cotabato—School opening in this town has been suspended while education and public works officials assess the damage to school buildings caused by a 5.7-magnitude earthquake that struck on Saturday.

Residents have yet to recover from the scare that the quake brought as another quake of the same magnitude shook the town at dawn on Monday.

Cynthia Ortega, chair of the North Cotabato Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council, said education officials recommended the suspension of school opening to ensure the safety of students as 32 classrooms were either damaged or destroyed by the quake.

Dionisio Costes, Carmen school district supervisor, said some school buildings collapsed while others suffered huge cracks on walls.

“This is beyond our control. This is an act of nature. We need to be careful to avoid loss of lives,” he said.

Costes was at Kibudtungan High School to assess the damage with other officials when a strong aftershock occurred.

“There was an aftershock when I was at the school,” he said. “A concrete wall fell from the second floor of the building,” he added.

Kibudtungan is one of the villages in Carmen that were severely affected by the earthquake.

“The school principals were told to redirect the students to the barangay covered court for their orientation and further instructions,” Costes said.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology in Cotabato reported 97 aftershocks, including the one that struck at 4:10 a.m. on Monday.

The 5.7-magnitude quake that hit Central Mindanao on Saturday had its epicenter 12 kilometers from this town and was tectonic in origin.

At least eight persons were injured after they were hit by falling debris in their homes, while two bridges—Mutian Bridge in Barangay Kimadzil and another one in Barangay Kibudtungan—suffered damage.

North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Mendoza said families whose homes were destroyed or damaged would receive financial assistance from the province.

Ortega said 141 houses made of light materials were destroyed or damaged.

In Barangay Kimadsil, village chair Celia Asemillia said at least 70 houses, including hers, were damaged.

Ogie Bansigan, a resident of Carmen, said the strong tremor roused him from sleep. “Our house was shaking,” he said.

As of 7 a.m. on Monday, cargo trucks and buses are still barred from using Mutian Bridge that connects North Cotabato and Bukidnon due to its unstable condition.

“The bridge sagged about 4 to 6 inches and it might collapse,” Ortega said, adding that provincial engineering division workers are still clearing the Sayre highway of debris from a landslide. Reports from Edwin Fernandez, Carlo Agamon, Jeoffrey Maitem and Karlos Manlupig, Inquirer Mindanao