7 perish, 2 missing in magnitude-6.8 quake

At least seven persons were reported dead and two missing as of Saturday after the magnitude-6.8 earthquake that struck off Sarangani, General Santos City, Davao Occidental on Friday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.

Office of the Civil Defense spokesperson Edgar Posadas said they were still verifying the number of casualties. But as of Saturday, three deaths were logged in General Santos, two in Glan, Sarangani, and one each in Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental and Malapatan, Sarangani.

"Most of them were buried under the rubble or hit by fallen debris," Posadas said.

Citing OCD's initial assessment, Posadas said the earthquake's impact was "manageable" so far, as its regional offices were not yet asking for assistance from the national government.

"They are not yet asking for any help from the national government, so it's manageable. I think they can manage with the regional resources," he said.

The National Operations Center of the OCD and the NDRRMC, he said, are ready to assist the regional DRRM offices in addressing the needs of affected residents in their respective areas.

The NDRRMC counted at least 60 damaged houses in South Cotabato, Davao Occidental, Davao Oriental and Sarangani, while 32 infrastructure projects in Davao City, Davao Occidental, Davao del Sur, General Santos City, Davao Oriental and Sarangani were affected.

Some 450 people residing within the Davao Region and Soccsksargen were given medical care due to panic attacks and hyperventilation.

Posadas said 11 roads in SOCCSKSARGEN were affected by the quake, two of which were still not passable to motorists, while four bridges were now open.

Some 21 affected areas experienced power outages. The OCD reported that power had been restored in seven of the places.

Reports from the General Santos City Police Office said the earthquake damaged several buildings and other properties. The Buayan Bridge that connects the city to the province of Sarangani was partially damaged.

It said 13 buildings around the city, including shopping malls, residences, and three government buildings, incurred damage.

General Santos City Mayor Lorelie Pacquiao canceled all work and classes pending an assessment of all infrastructure around the city.

She checked on the 326 injured victims brought to the Dr. Jorge P. Royeca Hospital. According to hospital chief, Dr. Ryan Aplicador, most of the victims suffered trauma and panic attacks but didn't have serious injuries.

The city's Philippine Coast Guard station issued a bulletin suspending all sea travel until further notice. In its latest announcement, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology did not raise a tsunami alert.

Breakdown of fatalities

In nearby Sarangani province, the aftershocks triggered a rock slide in Glan town, but roads were passable.

Sarangani Governor Rogelio Pacquiao, in a statement, said, "We are conducting an assessment of the damage, but we have not received any report of major damage."

The quake caused part of a shopping mall ceiling to collapse, triggered power cuts, and sent people to the streets.

Falling debris from a mall in General Santos City crushed a woman to death, while 19 other people were treated for shock, city police captain Ari Noel Cardos told AFP.

Police earlier reported the death of a couple pinned under a collapsing concrete wall in General Santos, where about 30 students were also treated for breathing difficulties.

In Davao Occidental province, an elderly man was struck dead by a large rock that rolled down a hill near his house.

Phivolcs said the quake was likely generated by the movement of the earth's crust along the Cotabato trench, a long, narrow depression on the seafloor that forms the boundary of one tectonic plate pushing against another. Sarangani, Davao Occidental, and its neighboring provinces experience earthquakes as they are situated in one of the seismically active regions in the country.

It originally recorded the earthquake at magnitude 7.2. It struck off the coast of Sarangani at 4:14 p.m. on Friday, with the epicenter located 34 km northwest of Sarangani Island.

The earthquake, which was finally logged at magnitude 6.8, with a 72-km depth of focus and tectonic origin, was felt in many areas of Mindanao.

Phivolcs has recorded 63 aftershocks ranging from magnitude 1.4 to 3.9, 36 of which were plotted while three tremors were felt.

With AFP