Powerful Davao earthquake kills 4
Credit to Author: Agence France-Presse| Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2019 16:13:14 +0000
A powerful earthquake hit parts of Mindanao on Sunday, killing at least four people and damaging buildings in an area still recovering from a string of deadly quakes in October.
One of the fatalities was a six-year-old girl who was hit by a collapsing wall. The three others were trapped inside a heavily damaged building.
Police said a rescue operation had been launched at the market building near the 6.8 magnitude quake’s epicenter, which is about 90 kilometers (55 miles) from Davao City.
The tectonic quake struck 9 kilometers northwest of Matanao at 2:11 p.m.
It had a depth of 3 kilometers.
Patients were evacuated from hospitals as a precaution and nervous crowds massed outside shopping malls after the jolt and a series of smaller, but strong aftershocks.
“We can no longer use our office because the walls cracked and the stairs collapsed,” local police spokesman Lea Orbuda told Agence France Presse. “The power is off and the water taps are dry.”
She added that at least 24 people had been taken to the hospital, and that search operations continued. Another 13 were reported hurt in a neighboring area, police said.
President Rodrigo Duterte, who is from Davao, was caught up in the earthquake but was unharmed, officials said.
“The first lady… said the car she was riding [in] was swaying,” spokesman Salvador Panelo said. “They are unhurt.”
There was no threat of a tsunami, said the United States Geological Survey, which initially reported the magnitude at 6.9.
The Philippines is situated on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
Three quakes above 6.0 magnitude hit roughly the same area of Mindanao in a matter of weeks in October, killing some two dozen people and heavily damaging office buildings, schools and apartments.
Tens of thousands of people were forced into shelters by the string of tremors, the government said, either because their homes were damaged or they were too afraid to return.
Most of the deaths in October were caused by collapsing walls and falling debris, including a teenage boy who was crushed by a falling wall as he tried to escape his school.
Other fatalities were attributed to rock and landslides unleashed by the violent shaking that injured at least 400 people.
The Philippines has been hit by several very powerful earthquakes in recent decades, including one of magnitude 7.8 that struck the northern resort town of Baguio in 1990.
That tremor toppled multistory buildings and hotels, killing some 1,200 people.
Authorities reported that a three-story commercial building collapsed in Padada, Davao del Sur and several persons were trapped inside.
Luke Caduyas, head of Padada’s disaster management council, said the building, which housed a grocery store and residential units, collapsed.
Caduyas also confirmed the report from the Bureau of Fire Protection that three bodies were found inside the supermarket.
He added that at least six persons were rescued.
Mayor Vincent Fernandez of Matanao, Davao del Sur said the six-year-old girl was buried under a wooden wall that gave way in Barangay Asinan.
Fernandez said the town was still reeling from the October earthquakes.
Power was out, he said, and some residents were staying at evacuation centers.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the quake was felt at Intensity 5 in Matanao and Magsaysay, Davao del Sur; while Intensity 6 was felt in Kidapawan City; General Santos City; Bansalan, Davao del Sur; Alabel and Malapatan, Sarangani; and Koronadal City.
Another magnitude 5.2 quake shook Matanao at 3:09 p.m., according to Phivolcs.