14 hurt in Davao del Sur earthquake

CAVE IN Hours after Sunday’s 6.1-magnitude quake, a portion of the mountain caved in only a few meters from the houses where the Manobo community live in Sitio B’yao, New Esperanza village in Mlang, Cotabato province. —WILLIAMOR MAGBANUA

MLANG, COTABATO—Cracks as long as 5 to 10 meters found their way to the floors of houses, where some of the walls collapsed here at Sitio B’yao, New Esperanza village of this town following the 6.1-magnitude quake that hit Magsaysay town, Davao del Sur province, at noon on Sunday.

Villagers said they spent the night in an open field only to see a portion of the mountain caved in hours after the strong quake.

Thankfully, no one was hurt in the area, home to 50 Manobo families and has been declared a high risk area by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau following the series of quakes that destroyed most of the houses there in the last quarter of 2019.

Landslides

But in other parts of Cotabato province, 14 people, including a 2-year-old, were hurt while 21 houses, two chapels and a basketball court were damaged following Sunday’s quake, said the provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRMMO).

Aside from the landslide in New Esperanza village, seven other landslides were reported in the neighboring town of Makilala.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology traced the quake’s epicenter 6 kilometers southeast of Magsaysay, but the quake was felt at Intensity 5 in Mlang and in Kidapawan City. It was the second quake to have struck almost the same area after the 4.8-magnitude quake that occurred at 7:28 a.m. on Sunday.

Magsaysay itself was unscathed by the strong temblor, said Mayor Arthur Davin.

Bernardo Tayong, Mlang’s DRMMO head, said two chapels were partially damaged in the town.

Malls and big business establishments in Kidapawan City remained closed on Monday as city engineers inspected buildings for structural integrity.

At least 450 evacuees from the series of quakes in 2019 still remained at the evacuation sites in this province, according to the provincial DRMMO.

Mall inspections

In Digos City, province of Davao del Sur, a team was also sent to inspect the Gaisano Grand Mall after its front side showed some cracks and damage from Sunday’s quake. It reopened to the public on Monday.

The mall was among the structures in Digos that were damaged by the 2019 quakes and was closed for several months for repair.

Despite its most recent cracks on Sunday, however, the mall opened itself to the public on Monday. —REPORTS FROM WILLIAMOR MAGBANUA AND ELDIE AGUIRRE INQ