Classes, work suspended in Naga City after 4.3 quake, aftershocks rock Camarines Sur

GUINOBATAN, Albay—Classes and work were suspended Friday in Naga, in Camarines Sur, which was hit Friday evening by a 4.3-magnitude quake and 20 aftershocks.

Mayor Nelson Legacion ordered the suspension of all classes regardless of learning delivery.

“I am also enjoining all administrators of public and private offices to exercise prudence and grant consideration to workers by suspending work in the morning and resuming operations only in the afternoon … after the buildings are cleared and declared safe by safety officers,” he said in a statement posted online.

Classes were also suspended in the neighboring Canaman town, where the center of the quake and its aftershocks was recorded.

The Mariners’ Polytechnic College Foundation of Canaman also suspended classes after the college’s student body requested it.

Inspections

The tremors caused the glass door of a convenience store to break and the walls in residential houses and some establishments to crack.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), said it recorded 20 aftershocks from 1:20 a.m. to 5 a.m. after the 10:08 p.m. quake.

Six of the aftershocks were felt, including the first aftershock that was measured to be at magnitude 4.2.

The quakes and aftershocks sent several Naga residents out of their homes before dawn.

Meanwhile, security officers in the city continued to inspect establishments after the quakes.

Elmer Pitallano, chief of security operations in the city’s public market, requested Legacion to help them undergo a complete evaluation of the Naga City People’s Mall, which was built in the 1960s.

No three-wheeled vehicles were allowed to enter the market while waiting for the safety clearance from the City Engineer’s Office (CEO).

Legacion and CEO head Alexander Caning also inspected the Jesse M. Robredo Coliseum, where vaccination was scheduled.

In a post online, Legacion said the Vaccination Operations Team “showed readiness on its part to hold such undertaking.”

“No damage has been reported or observed to churches and museums in Naga,” Alec Santos, the head of the city’s Arts, Culture and Tourism Office, said on social media. “A portion of the trail leading to Malabsay Falls on Mt. Isarog has been damaged by a rockslide and is scheduled for repair and preventive maintenance.”

Phivolcs volcanologist Paul Alanis said a series of aftershocks for strong quakes is normal.

“In fact, for the Masbate earthquake, we can still detect aftershocks,” he told The Inquirer in a phone interview.

A 6.6-magnitude earthquake rocked Masbate on Aug. 18, 2020, and killed two residents.

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