52 killed in Negros; tsunami alert triggers panic in Cebu

Except for  overcast skies and slight rain, Cebuanos had no inkling nature had a shock in store  yesterday.

At 11:49 a.m. the ground trembled under  their feet, shaking buildings and sending people out on the streets.

The earthquake  lasted about 30 seconds and  registered 6.9 on the Richter scale with several mild aftershocks.

At least 52 people were killed in Negros Oriental, mostly due to landslides, including a 9-year-old girl who was crushed by a concrete fence that collapsed in Tayasan town.

The earthquake  affected  Negros Oriental, Cebu, Tagbilaran City in Bohol province and Dumaguete City.  The  epicenter was near the coastal town of Tayasan in Negros Oriental.

A tsunami level 2 warning, which was broadcast by the  Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs),   raised panic levels until the advisory was withdrawn at 2:30  p.m.

In urban centers of  Cebu and  Mandaue, people rushed to the street, some carrying their belongings.

Residents in Carbon market  ran to the Cebu City Hall shouting that a tsunami was on the way

“Ni saka na kuno ang tubig !(The water level  has risen),” some of them yelled as they ran.

The rush of people, including many employees who stopped work and went home early, congested traffic in downtown and uptown Cebu City, P. del Rosario Street, Banilad and the North Reclamation Area, said Sylvan Jakosalem, chairman of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom).Traffic was also heavy along V. Rama Avenue leading to barangay Guadalupe.

Damages

When the quake subsided, cracks were reported  in the BIR building, the executive building of Cebu City Hall and private schools like the University of San Jose -Recoletos.

Gaps appeared in concrete segments of the viaduct in the South Coastal Road. Cracks were also spotted in the columns of the old Gotiaoco Building located just across Cebu City Hall.

Damage was reported in schools  in barangay Buhisan, Apas and the Don Vicente Rama Memorial Elementary School in Pardo.

Capitol officials said damage was  reported in the water system in Ronda town and a church belfry in Badian town in southwest Cebu. Towns in the southwest took the brunt of the quake.

In Cebu City, people were seen running down Osmeña Boulevard to Fuente Osmeña, where some gathered in the park. A large crowd was seen running down Jones Avenue to  the Provincial Captiol

Taxi driver Dodong Rico said he was driving along Guadalupe when he saw people running in panic.

“My passenger told me to drive faster because we might be caught by the tsunami,” the 47-year-old driver  said.

Ghost town

Fear of a tsunami, fueled by false text messages and word-of-mouth, spread quickly.

People  ran or walked quickly down General Maxilom Avenue, busily texting or calling family and friends on their cell phones.

Traffic was heaviest  past 2 p.m, as jeepneys, trucks and motorists were at a standstill. It was  past 5 p.m when city roads were almost empty and buildings including government offices were closed.

“It’s like a ghost town,” said Alvin Santillana,  chief of the disaster council. chief.Aftershocks were felt in the outskirts of Cebu City late in the evening.

False alarm

The Visayan Electric Power Co. (Veco) said brownouts were felt in parts of Metro Cebu after  power lines of substations tripped.

Some mall stores and shops closed early.  So did several government offices and commercial establishments.

Cebu City Hall employees  immediately vacated the building. Those at  the Cebu Capitol went outside the building and waited for official word  canceling work for the day.

Merlinda Digna, 40, of barangay Mabolo, brought her two children and an image of the Sto. Niño, as she walked hurriedly to the Asiatown IT park in barangay Lahug.

“They said the water level. I want to be ready even if it was a false report. My kids are still small,” Digna said.

Noel Navarez, who works in Cebu Ferries, said he and other stevedores watched the water. There were no large waves.

“Some people are just making irresponsible claims. We didn’t see any tsunami,” he said.

Two-way street

At the Asiatown I.T. Park in sitio Apas, Lahug, office workers gathered outside the buildings  on hearing about the tsunami alert.

The commercial district hosts some of the tallest buildings in Cebu City.

“I was in the second floor. I thought the building would collapse.  My boss pulled me to get  out of the building,” architect Lisette Villamor told Cebu Daily News.

Villamor works in the TGU Tower, a 15-story building. She said even  illegal settlers near the  BIR office  went to the IT Park believing it was safer ground in case of a tsunami.

People were seen climbing house roofs in Gorordo St. and in barangays Parian, Lorega, Tinago and Tejero.

SCHOOL OUT

In the University of Cebu  (UC) main campus in Banilad,  students left their classes right after the tremors.

“I had to go under the table for safety,” said UC owner Augusto Go. Go later supervised the evacuation of students from the building.

Classes were suspended in all levels at the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CTI-U) and the University of the Visayas. CIT-U dean Arsenio Pacana said  classes will resume today.

At the Palace of Justice in Cebu City, court employees and judges rushed out of the four-storey building as the quake hit.

Court hearings were halted while handcuffed prisoners were brought to the lobby. Employees were advised to go homeown and at the provincial road of Boljoon town. dor Vincent Mayol, Doris C. Bongcac, Jhunnex Napallacan and Rhea Ruth V. Rosell with Correspondents Chito Aragon, Carmel Loise Matus, Edison delos Angeles, Fe Marie Dumaboc, Norman V. Mendoza and Reporter Candeze R. Mongaya