MANILA, Philippines — Clearing operations continued yesterday at the quake-hit Chuzon Supermarket in Porac, Pampanga as disaster responders were still accounting for five missing persons.
“There are no signs of life anymore. We are just clearing the debris,” said Marlou Salazar, Central Luzon Office of Civil Defense regional director, told Camp Aguinaldo reporters.
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council spokesman Edgar Posadas said they had to continue clearing the area even as search and rescue operations had ended.
Salazar, however, said they were still trying to verify the whereabouts of five other missing individuals.
Meanwhile, a string of earthquakes struck off Surigao del Norte early yesterday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.
The light tremors, with magnitude ranging from 3.9 to 5, occurred southeast of General Luna town.– With Ben Serrano