Residents begin to return home after Philippine quake kills at least 2, including pregnant woman
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Rescuers gathering patients outside a hospital after an earthquake in Butuan city, Philippines, on Dec 3.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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MANILA – Philippine residents were allowed to return to their homes on Dec 3 after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s south,
The Dec 2 quake shook parts of two provinces, triggering coastal evacuations and tsunami alerts in the country and in Japan.
A 30-year-old man died in Bislig city in Surigao del Sur province, when a wall inside his house collapsed on top of him, said local disaster official Pacifica Pedraverde.
Some roads in the city were cracked during the earthquake and aftershocks, but vehicles could still travel on them, she said.
A pregnant woman was killed in Tagum city in Davao del Norte province, the national disaster agency said, without providing details.
Two people suffered minor injuries in Tandag city, about 100km north of Bislig, after they were hit by falling debris, an official said.
The national disaster agency recorded a total of four people injured, but it was not clear if that tally included the two in Tandag.
“The tsunami threat associated with this earthquake has now largely passed the Philippines,” the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said in a statement. However, it advised people in threatened communities to heed the instructions of the local authorities.
Disaster official Antonio told DWPM radio station that in the coastal town of Carrascal in Surigao del Sur, all evacuees have returned to their homes. “We are ready in case there is a need to evacuate again,” he said.
More than 600 aftershocks were recorded, and Phivolcs urged caution as people resumed normal activities.
The Philippine Coast Guard put all its vessels and aircraft on alert for potential dispatch.
“We started going back to our homes early on Sunday, although we are still shaking because of aftershocks,” Ms Julita Bicap, 51, a front-desk employee at GLC Suites hotel in Bislig, said on Dec 3 after power was restored at around 5am.
“There are aftershocks even now. Last night, we were at the evacuation centre, including two foreign guests of mine. One of them has returned to the hotel already,” Ms Bicap told Reuters, adding that she noticed a small crack in the hotel’s front wall.
The authorities recorded minor damage to homes, while the aviation agency reported minor cracks on wall tiles in some regional airports. The strongest aftershock was magnitude 6.5, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre.
Earthquakes are common in the Philippines, which lies on the Ring of Fire, a belt of volcanoes circling the Pacific Ocean that is prone to seismic activity.
Philvolcs’ Hinatuan-Bislig Bay station recorded maximum waves of 0.64m. Japan’s Hachijojima island, some 290km south of Tokyo, recorded waves of 0.4m, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
The United States Tsunami Warning System had initially warned of waves of up to 3m above the usual high tide level.
The quake, which struck at 10.37pm on Dec 2, was at a depth of 25km, Philvolcs said. REUTERS, AFP
