Twin quakes hit off Davao provinces

MANILA, Philippines — The chief of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) yesterday urged the public to remain calm as aftershocks from the two consecutive strong earthquakes hit different parts of the country.

Science Undersecretary and Phivolcs director Renato Solidum Jr. said a total of 635 aftershocks have been recorded as of yesterday morning from the magnitude 6.1 quake that hit Castillejos, Zambales on Monday.

The magnitude 6.5 tremor that struck San Julian, Eastern Samar on Tuesday, meanwhile, has generated 70 aftershocks as of 9 a.m. yesterday.

“We might expect aftershocks in the Central Luzon area for several days to several weeks but numbers would decrease with time,” Solidum warned.

The tremor rocked parts of Central Luzon and Metro Manila, leaving at least 16 dead in hardest-hit province of Pampanga.

“For Eastern Visayas, a number of aftershocks may be smaller and may persist for several days or a few weeks,” he said.

Solidum said most of the aftershocks would be unfelt. 

“When a fault moves, it will not totally stop moving. The ground around it will still adjust. That’s why we have aftershocks,” he said.

Solidum added the probability of larger earthquakes, similar to the two events, occurring is low.

“It is most likely the succeeding earthquakes would be smaller than the initial ones. However, there can be relatively strong aftershocks like the magnitude 4.5 in Zambales this (Wednesday) morning and the magnitude 4.6 in Eastern Samar yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon,” he said.

A magnitude 4.7 earthquake also hit the Davao region yesterday as officials assured the public there were no deaths or injuries reported.

Officials in Samar said the earthquake brought minimal damage. Gov. Marcelo Ferdinand Picardal said there was only superficial damage to major roads, bridges, churches and other structures.

“There is also no damage to our irrigation line and electricity in Borongan City and power in the whole of Eastern Samar was restored (Tuesday) night,” Picardal told radio dzMM.

While some bridges sustained some damage, Picardal said this was minimal and they remain passable.

The province has 22 municipalities and one city. The town of San Julian at the quake’s epicenter suffered minor damage to some structures, Picardal said.

A report from the Eastern Visayas police said 10 persons were injured in the entire region as a result of the earthquake.

“We are still collecting information for the final report and damage assessment analysis,” Picardal said.

Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said the province sustained cracks in some city and municipal buildings and roads.

Despite the cracks, all roads are passable, he said.

Evardone said the quake caused power and mobile phone signal disruptions in several areas.

He added that he has asked local engineering districts to immediately do road and building repairs. – With Jess Diaz, Emmanuel Tupas, Edu Punay