LEBAK PORTAL – The number of people who died due to the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the southern region of the Philippines increased to 37 people, while four people are still missing.
Rescue teams continued searching through Tuesday in several seriously affected areas on Mindanao Island, according to reports from local media.
The earthquake that occurred on Monday at 07.37 local time off the coast of Sarangani Province caused widespread damage in various locations in Mindanao. A number of buildings collapsed, electricity and water services were disrupted, and landslides occurred in several places, according to information from Philstar.
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Deputy Spokesperson for the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), Diego Mariano, stated that there were 33 confirmed fatalities in the Soccsksargen area. Of this total, 18 people died in Sarangani Province, 12 in General Santos City, and three in South Cotabato. The other four victims were reported to be from neighboring Davao Province.
OCD spokesperson, Junie Castillo, explained that most of the deaths were caused by falling debris from buildings and structures that collapsed during the earthquake.
Authorities also noted that at least 479 people were injured, including 456 in Region 12 and 23 in Davao Province.
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This earthquake affected around 88,000 people in southern Mindanao, including 22,690 people who were forced to evacuate. Many individuals are still staying outdoors due to ongoing aftershocks and doubts about the safety of existing buildings.
Currently, the focus of search, rescue and evacuation operations is still in the cities of General Santos and Sarangani, which are the two worst affected areas.
The government reported damage to nine bridges and 19 roads. Estimated infrastructure losses are estimated to exceed 900 million Philippine pesos (around 14.6 million US dollars or Rp. 264 billion).
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A total of 1,889 houses were reported to have suffered damage, including around 1,500 houses which were completely destroyed. Property losses were estimated at 15 million Philippine pesos (around 243,607 US dollars or Rp. 4.4 billion). Damage assessment is still ongoing so the figures may change.
OCD revealed that they are planning to build an emergency tent area to accommodate residents who have not been able to return to their homes due to the damage and security risks that still exist.
The Philippine Department of Education also reported significant damage to school facilities in Mindanao. According to initial assessments, 1,159 classrooms in 231 state schools in five regions were damaged.
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After the main earthquake occurred, the United States Pacific Tsunami Warning Center stated that there was a possibility of tsunami waves more than three meters above normal height in some coastal areas.
However, the tsunami warning was later canceled by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology after observations showed the wave height was too small to cause damage.
Previously, the governments of Indonesia and the Philippines had asked residents living in risky coastal areas to immediately move to higher ground as a precautionary measure.
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About two hours after the main earthquake, the area was rocked again by an aftershock with a magnitude of 6.1. On Tuesday, another aftershock with a magnitude of 5.1 occurred again, as reported by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).***
