5.4-magnitude aftershock jolts Ormoc

A red dot points to the epicenter of the 5.4 magnitude aftershock that hit Leyte Monday morning, July 10, 2017. PHIVOLCS IMAGE

Updated @ 12:45 a.m., July 11, 2017, to include more details

Originally posted @ 10:17 a.m., July 10, 2017

ORMOC CITY — People in Ormoc panicked and ran to the streets after a strong aftershock rocked the city on Monday morning.

The 5.4-magnitude aftershock was felt at Intensity 6 here. It came four days after a 6.5-magnitude earthquake shook Leyte province, killed two people, left 72 injured and damaged property and infrastructure worth more than P230 million.

After the buildings swayed for about five seconds at 9:41 a.m., students rushed out of their schools, while customers and staff elbowed each other in getting out of business establishments.

Patients were wheeled out of hospitals.

Mayor hides under table

More than 20 people who suffered anxiety attacks were given first aid at the treatment center in front of the City Hall, according to City Administrator Vince Emnas.

Mayor Richard Gomez urged residents not to panic as the city was expected to experience more aftershocks following last week’s earthquake.

“I hid under the table,” Gomez said.

Renato Solidum Jr., director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, said the people in Ormoc and the rest of Leyte could experience more aftershocks following last week’s quake.

No damage from the huge aftershock was reported.

‘It was so fast’

Some patients at Ormoc District Hospital refused to go back into the facility.

One of them was Mae Ann Carillo, 26, who gave birth to a baby girl on Friday, a day after the strong earthquake.

The infant, however, died just hours after due to cord coil strangulation. “I’m afraid to return inside the hospital,” Carillo said.

Jombert Orias, 18 and a student of Western Leyte College, said he and his classmates were having an earthquake drill and psychosocial training in the school gym when they felt the ground move.

“It was so fast … All of us panicked and rushed to get out of the school premises,” he said.

The school suspended classes.

Aigili Keny Cuizon, 19 and a Grade 12 student at Western Leyte College, said she stumbled during the stampede that ensued. “I got some minor wounds in my right feet,” she said.

The aftershock failed to stop the meeting on the second floor of Ormoc City Hall to discuss the damage in the city and nearby Kananga town caused by the July 6 tremor.

Among those who attended the meeting were Energy Secretaries Alfonso Cusi, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, also the chair of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Also in the meeting were presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella, Leyte Gov. Leopoldo Dominico Petilla, Leyte Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez and Kananga Mayor Rowena Codilla.

Gomez said the July 6 earthquake damaged school buildings, roads, the airport runway and two bridges. She placed the damage at P234.55 million.

At least 4,776 families were affected, 748 houses were destroyed and 1,174 others damaged.

Lorenzana assured Gomez and Codilla that the national government would help rebuild their areas.

Cusi said Energy Development Corp. (EDC) and National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) promised that power would be restored within 10 days.

NGCP said if testing was successful, it would be able to deliver electricity from generators in Cebu province to the power-starved islands of Samar, Leyte, Biliran and Bohol.

EDC expects to deliver to the grid a total of 317 MW in the next nine days. The company is still clearing landslide debris. CBB/rga/atm