MANILA, Philippines — Seven people were killed and several others were wounded in the magnitude 6.8 earthquake that hit Sarangani, Davao Occidental on Friday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) said yesterday.
The NDRRMC said it is still verifying casualty figures available, but said three deaths were recorded in General Santos City; two in Glan, Sarangani; and one each in Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental; and Malapatan, Sarangani.
Meanwhile, two persons were injured in Glan, Sarangani, and two others in General Santos were reported missing.
No fewer than 30 people at shopping malls and other buildings got hurt as debris from ceilings and overhead boards fell on them during the tremor.
General Santos police Captain Ari Noel Cardos told AFP that a woman was crushed to death inside a shopping mall by falling debris, her body partly covered by fragments of concrete and steel support bars.
City police director Col. Nicomedes Olaivar, told reporters that couple Danny and Jane Ginung were pinned under a collapsing concrete wall. Both were already lifeless when police and emergency responders cleared the rubble that crushed them.
Another person was killed by a falling steel structure in Glan, police officer Paul Mesalido said. The NDRRMC reported a second death in Glan and another in the adjacent Malapatan municipality, but gave no details.
Firemen dug with shovels as they searched on Saturday for two members of a family, a mother and her child, feared buried beneath a landslide in a remote mountain village about four hours’ drive from Glan, rescuer Daniel Nocos said.
He said an excavator had been sent to help in the search, but had not yet reached the area because of bad roads and a damaged bridge.
In neighboring Davao Occidental province, an elderly man was killed by a large rock that rolled down a hill near his house, police officer Patrick Laurente said.
The quake damaged 60 houses in four provinces as well as 32 roads and bridges in the region, rescuers said.
The Department of Education said that as of 6 a.m. yesterday, at least five public schools in the Davao Region were reported to have been damaged by the quake. The agency said the total estimated cost of damage is P143 million.
No need to cut short US trip
Speaking from the US, President Marcos said he does not see the need to cut short his visit to the US due to the strong earthquake, saying the government already has procedures to follow in the aftermath of disasters.
Asked by the media yesterday whether he sees the need to cut short his trip to oversee the government’s response in quake-hit areas, Marcos replied: “Well If there’s something that needs to be done that cannot be done by anybody but myself, I will go home.”
“But as I said, they already know what to do. That’s my hope – we tried to organize the government in such a way that these are standard operating procedures already. You don’t have to question of what do we do next, everything is written,” he added.
Marcos said the NDRMMC, the social welfare and interior departments and the police have been reporting to him developments related to the earthquake.
“We’re getting good reports, fairly accurate reports because the communication system, did not really collapse, maybe in the isolated areas, but in general the communication system stayed up, power stayed on, water is still running,” he said.
“I hope it (impact of earthquake) will not go beyond that but we’ll keep looking and seeing and determine, and asses what the damage really has been,” he added. Marcos said state agencies do not need to get directives from him.
The NDRMMC said 450 people from the Davao Region and Soccsksargen were given medical care due to trauma and breathing difficulties.
A number of students from different private and government schools in General Santos and in nearby towns in Sarangani were reported to have fainted as the ground shook, many of them brought to hospitals for medication.
Aftershocks recorded
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said 61 aftershocks were recorded as of 11 a.m., but only three were felt. The agency earlier ruled out tsunami threat, based on available sea-level data.
“Civil Defense officials at the national and regional level are closely monitoring the progress of the operations, coordinating with the local government unit disaster managers,” Office of Civil Defense administrator and undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno said.
Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos, for his part, has tasked the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to immediately deploy personnel to assess infrastructure damage in the Davao Region.
He said a total of 292 fire trucks, 17 ambulances, nine rescue trucks and 1,800 emergency personnel have so far been deployed to help out the cities.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., for his part, said he has directed regional agencies to also assess damage to farm infrastructure, specifically those in Saranggani and General Santos City.
Laurel said that the Department of Agriculture is ready to extend assistance to farmers affected by the quake.
“I also gave instructions to assess the needs of affected farmers and fishermen. We are ready to extend assistance so that our stakeholders can quickly recover from this disaster,” he said.
Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said at an NDRRMC cluster meeting with disaster officials and Vice President Sara Duterte that the government was vigorously addressing the situation.
“Following the 6.8 magnitude earthquake in Davao Occidental at 4:14 PM, I assure you that the government is actively responding to ensure the safety of our citizens,” Teodoro said.
“We just led a meeting on the response of various government agencies and local government units in the areas affected by the earthquake,” Duterte, meanwhile, said in a statement in Filipino, posted on her Facebook account yesterday.
“As government servants, we must focus on giving immediate assistance and help in the rehabilitation of the devastated areas, not on today but in anticipation of future disasters,” she said.
In a separate statement issued Friday night, Duterte said Local Disaster Councils in areas hit by the earthquake must start coming up with their respective assessment report on the damage and must immediately work on restoring the electricity.
“In times of calamities like this, we see the importance of earthquake drills and other measures and practices on disaster preparedness. Let us remain calm, resilient and united,” Duterte said in Filipino. — Romina Cabrera, Alexis Romero, Elizabeth Marcelo