DFA: No Pinoys hurt amid tsunami threat in Russia

After the 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Russia triggered tsunamis and raised alarms in nearby coastlines, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said no Filipinos were hurt on the eastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula.

According to DFA Assistant Secretary Robert Ferrer, there are seven Filipinos living in the eastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula.

“We have contacted our embassy in Moscow, and we have no news of anyone being hurt or killed, fortunately, so thank God. And then, we have a consulate in Vladivostok which is close to Kamchatka Peninsula,” he said in a televised interview on People’s Television.

Ferrer added that countries concerned have lowered or lifted their tsunami alert levels, giving the public peace of mind.

Meanwhile, the DFA also reminded Filipinos overseas to follow advisories issued by Philippine embassies regarding tsunami alerts in their areas.

The DFA said that apart from the Kamchatka Peninsula, there are also Filipinos living in Hawaii, New Zealand, and the West Coast of the United States.

While there is no longer any danger of tsunamis near the eastern coast of Russia, the DFA said it is monitoring the status and movements of approximately 10 to 12 million Filipinos around the world.

“The DFA has a bigger hand. We have contingency plans and we have a hotline and our embassies are always in touch with the Filipino communities,” he said.

Filipinos in need of assistance in countries prone to tsunamis can reach out through the social media pages of embassies and consulates.

“We have advisories that can be seen on the Facebook page of every embassy and consulate — the consulate in Hawaii, our embassy in Tokyo, our embassy in Moscow,” he added.