The Office of Civil Defense has raised its National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center (NDRRMOC) to blue alert status following the magnitude 6.8 earthquake that jolted Saranggani Island in Davao Occidental on Friday afternoon.
Under the blue alert status, OCD tasked its regional offices to closely coordinate with other agencies and consolidate and report all related incidents.
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, Philippine Coast Guard, and Bureau of Fire Protection are required to render duty to support the disaster response activities.
"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. We have placed the NDRRM Operations Center under BLUE Alert, " Civil Defense Administrator Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno said.
"We want to assure the residents of affected areas that, as instructed by President Marcos Jr and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. the national government is on board and ready to provide necessary assistance, he added.
OCD has so far reported power outages in General Santos and Lebak, Sultan Kudarat, one damaged school, and houses destroyed in Sarangani, Davao Occidental as among the impacts of the earthquake.
Also, one tremor-related death was logged in Barangay Butuan in Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental but OCD said it is still validating the casualty.
The NDRRMOC earlier disseminated an Emergency Alert and Warning Message (EAWM) to the provinces of Davao Occidental, Davao del Sur, Sarangani, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and Cotabato, advising the communities to take precautionary measures amid the expected aftershocks and damages.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has ruled out the possible tsunami threat based on available sea-level data.
