Philippines begins clean-up after powerful twin quakes

MANAY, Philippines – Dazed survivors of

a pair of major earthquakes

in the southern Philippines awoke on Oct 11 to scenes of devastation, after hundreds of aftershocks rocked the region overnight.

Many coastal residents of Mindanao island slept outdoors, fearful of being crushed to death by aftershocks of the 7.4-magnitude and 6.7-magnitude quakes that struck off the coast within hours of each other on Oct 10.

The Philippine authorities said at least eight people were killed.

Officials described damage to roads, bridges, schools and other public infrastructure as “minimal” but have yet to determine how many people lost their homes.

In Manay, a Mindanao municipality of 40,000, people were removing debris and sweeping up broken glass from homes and other buildings on the morning of Oct 11.

“Our small house and our small store were destroyed,” resident Ven Lupogan told AFP.

“We have nowhere to sleep. There’s no electricity. We have nothing to eat.”

The destruction came less than two weeks after a

6.9-magnitude quake struck the central Philippine island of Cebu

, killing 75 people and wrecking about 72,000 houses.

When asked by AFP about the main long-term needs of the quake survivors, Mr Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro, a deputy administrator of the Civil Defence Office, said: “Most likely housing repair needs.”

Public Works Minister Vince Dizon told reporters during a visit to Manay’s heavily damaged government hospital: “We’re going to give everything that we can provide to the province and municipalities that are affected.”

Patients were lying on beds outside, waiting for treatment after being wheeled out on Oct 10, following warnings from government engineers that the building had structural issues.

Mr Dizon said they were considering putting up tent hospitals.

800 aftershocks

Some people in Manay slept in tents, under makeshift tarps, in hammocks, inside vehicles, and on mats spread out in parks or along the sides of streets as aftershocks rippled across the region of 1.8 million residents.

Ms Vilma Lagnayo scrambled to save her family’s clothes and belongings from their collapsed Manay home.

“Reconstructing (our home) is difficult now... Money is a problem,” Ms Lagnayo said.

Nearby, shopkeepers cleaned up the broken glass and put merchandise back on shelves, AFP journalists saw.

The Philippine seismology office has recorded more than 800 aftershocks since the first quake struck Mindanao, which is riddled with major faults.

It said these are expected to last for weeks.

In Mati, about two hours’ drive south-west along the coast, Ms Margarita Mulle and her relatives held a wake for her older sister who had earlier died from disease, even as neighbours stayed away after tsunami warnings that have since been lifted.

“In case something happens, they (relatives) will carry the body using a tora-tora,” a tearful Ms Mulle said, using a local term for a hand tractor-drawn cart that is a major mode of transport in rural areas of the south.

Earthquakes are a near-daily occurrence in the Philippines, which is situated on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through South-east Asia and across the Pacific basin.

An 8-magnitude quake off Mindanao island’s south-west coast in 1976 unleashed a tsunami that left 8,000 people dead or missing, the Philippines’ deadliest natural disaster. AFP