Quake prompts suspension of classes in Baguio schools

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — Several schools in Baguio City suspended classes after a magnitude 4.1 earthquake shook the summer capital on Tuesday morning.

Classes were suspended in the Saint Louis University system (elementary, high school and university), University of Baguio Laboratory Elementary School and the Saint Louis School Center elementary department.

An SLU Laboratory Elementary School (SLU-LES) official said the university’s administration decided to suspend classes as a precaution following the earthquake, which struck at 7:14 a.m. and was felt at Intensity IV in Baguio and nearby La Trinidad town in Benguet. (Intensity IV means most of the people inside their homes feel the shaking, which is strong enough to rattle dishes and windows, but only a few people outside feel the tremor.)

A bulletin released by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the earthquake’s epicenter was traced at 13 kilometers southeast of the summer capital.

Local and disaster response officials did not receive reports of any quake-related damage or casualty, however.

The Phivolcs bulletin said the agency was not expecting aftershocks and earthquake-related damage.