Philippines earthquakes kill at least eight people and injure 60

Philippines earthquakes kill at least eight people and injure 60

Cracks are seen on the facade of a building

At least eight people have been killed after three earthquakes struck a province in the Philippines.

The earthquakes hit the province of Batanes, an archipelago in the north of the country, within a few hours on Saturday.

Footage showed people clearing boulder-size stone bricks to pull out one body from the rubble of a home.

Mayor Raul de Sagon said around 60 people were hurt and many people were in their homes when the earthquakes struck.

He said injured people were still being taken to hospitals and more doctors may be needed.

The Philippine seismology agency said the quakes measured 5.4 and 5.9 and a third quake with a magnitude 5.7 struck later on Saturday.

Roldan Esdicul, head of the Batanes provincial disaster office said he was in his office when the second and more powerful quake struck about three hours after the first shock.

He said: "We have to hold on because you can't stand or walk. It was that strong."

The first earthquake severely cracked the bell tower of the island's old limestone church, the 19th-century Santa Maria de Mayan which is a popular tourist attraction.

Mr Esdicul said the tower collapsed when the second quake hit the island.

A hospital was damaged but remained open and an air force helicopter and a plane had been deployed to Batanes to help ferry and provide aid to victims.

The islands are famous for their stone-built houses, coral walls and cogon grass roofs and are often battered by typhoons. </s> At least 8 people have been killed and dozens injured after a series of powerful earthquakes struck the northern Philippines archipelago province of Batanes.Substantial damage is being reported in Itbayat municipality after two consecutive earthquakes measuring 5.4 and 5.9 struck the region around 4:16am and 7:30am local time, followed by an aftershock. Amid ongoing large scale rescue operations a third quake measuring 5.7 struck the same area at 09:24am.Eight people were killed and 60 others injured, according to preliminary information from Batanes Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.All of the jolts were centered within 15 kilometers of Itbayat. The municipality, which is home to roughly 3,000 people, has suffered a power outage.A historic Maria de Mayan church was damaged. Some damage has also been reported in the local Jorge Abad airport. </s> – Philippine police said at least five people were killed and 12 other injured after twin earthquakes struck islands in the north of the Philippines on July 27 morning.Both quakes hit the province of Batanes, a group of sparsely populated islets north of the nation's largest Luzon island.Batanes governor Marilou Cayco said the first quake of magnitude 5.4 occurred at 4.16am (Philippines time) at a depth of 12km, while the second of magnitude of 6.4 at a depth of 43km jolted the province three hours later. - VNA </s> At least eight people were killed and around 60 were injured in the Philippines after a series of earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 5.4 to 5.9 struck the northern Batanes islands in the early hours of Saturday, provincial authorities said.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council warned the population to stay inside their homes ahead of expected aftershocks.

Authorities said several churches and residential buildings had sustained damages and announced that army troops had been deployed to carry out rescue operations.

The tremors were first felt before dawn and continued with hours-long gaps between them, near the city of Itbayat in the Batanes islands, according to the United States Geological Survey, which records seismic activity around the world,

The last quake, which had a 5.7-magnitude, was registered at 9.24 am, around 21 kilometers (13 miles) away from Itbayat at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the USGS.

The Philippines is located along the Ring of Fire, a region of high volcanic and seismic activity that is shaken every year by some 7,000 quakes, most of them moderate.

Earthquakes with a magnitude higher than 5 are recorded sporadically in southern Mindanao, Batanes and the eastern region of Bicol. EFE-EPA </s> At least eight people were killed and 60 more injured after two earthquakes shook Batanes islands, the north of the Philippines, early July 27, according to the Philippine Government.The quakes were magnitude of 5.4 and 5.9 respectively. Several big aftershocks hit the area later.The first quake killed five people while three others lost their lives in the aftershocks, according to Ricardo Jalad, executive director of the Philippines’ national disaster agency.The agency has been sending medical and rescue teams to the islands, while the military was also deploying an aircraft to transport supplies and bring out injured, he said.Mayor Raul de Sagon said the number of dead and injured people may be higher.The Philippines is on the geologically active Pacific Ring of Fire and experiences frequent earthquakes. Latest 6.3-magnitude quake in April killed 11 people and collapsed a market in the north of Manila capital. –VNA </s> This post was originally published on this site

WORLD NEWS Back-to-back earthquakes strike Philippines killing 8 and injuring at least 63 https://linewsradio.com/back-to-back-earthquakes-strike-philippines-killing-8-and-injuring-at-least-63/ http://abcnewsradioonline.com/world-news/

iStock/hepatus(NEW YORK) — Back-to-back strong earthquakes struck the northern Philippines just hours apart early Saturday, killing at least eight people, injuring at least 63 residents and damaging historic stone buildings, officials said.

Early Saturday, tremors hit Itbayat, one of the sparsely-populated Batanes Islands located in the Luzon Strait that separates the Philippines and Taiwan. The region is part of the Pacific “Ring of Fire” — a zone of major seismic activity.

The Philippines National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), which reported the casualties, also said at least one person was missing and 911 families or 2,963 people were displaced from their homes and currently staying at a public marketplace.

The quake also damaged at least 15 houses and two schools, according to the Philippine government.

The first quake struck at 4:16 a.m. local time and measured 5.4 on the Richter scale. The second struck at 7:37 a.m. and measured 5.9, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology reported. After several aftershocks, a third quake which measured 5.7 struck on Saturday evening at 6:11 p.m.

There was no tsunami warning following the quake. </s> Updated @ 9:16 p.m., July 27, 2019

BASCO, Batanes, Philippines – Six of the nine Itbayat town residents killed during the Saturday (July 27) earthquake that struck at dawn were buried at the cemetery in the afternoon due to insufficient embalming materials there.

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The Itbayat hospital, which was damaged, has no facilities to store the dead, some of the families of the dead agreed to proceed with a mass funeral at about 5 p.m., according to Josefa Ponce, secretary of the Itbayat Municipal Council.

Genward Mina, who was crushed by a boulder while protecting his girlfriend, was laid to rest.

Also buried were Fiona Valiente, a 10-day-old baby; Tito Asa, 88; Teresita Gulaga, 76; Eva Valiente, 19; and Edwin Ponce, 32, who was initially reported to be missing.

READ: 1 remains missing after Batanes twin quakes—Itbayat vice mayor

Earlier, it was reported that all nine fatalities were buried, but three fatalities were not buried — 73-year-old Fausta Caan; her granddaughter, 5-day-old baby Haisly Cheffe Naquita; and 13-year old Mary Rose Valiente.

Their relatives had not allowed their burial as of this writing.

Valiente’s mother is at the Basco hospital where her other child is being treated as of this writing.

Most Itbayat residents have opted to stay in tents outside their houses, fearing aftershocks, some of which were stronger than the 5.4 tremor that rocked the town at 4:16 a.m.

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Just hours apart

Two strong earthquakes struck just hours apart, killing at least nine people, injuring about 60 and damaging ancestral houses famous among tourists.

The quakes collapsed homes of stone and wood and roused residents from sleep, said Roldan Esdicul, who heads the Batanes provincial disaster-response office. Footage showed people clearing boulder-size stone bricks to pull out one body from the rubble.

“Our bed and everything were swaying from side to side like a hammock,” Esdicul told The Associated Press by cellphone from Basco town, the provincial capital. “We all ran out to safety.”

On hard-hit Itbayat island, school teacher Agnes Salengua-Nico said she and her husband woke up horrified with the ground shaking and a cabinet crashing to the floor. Their house withstood the shaking but others in the neighborhood crumbled, pinning residents inside, she said.

“We’re out now in the farm with our three pigs because we’re very, very scared of the aftershocks,” she told AP by phone, her voice trembling shortly after the ground shook again.

More than 2,000 residents of Itbayat — nearly all of the island’s population of mostly fishermen — were advised not to return to their homes and stay in the town plaza as successive aftershocks shook the region, Esdicul said.

Army troops and additional doctors later flew in after Itbayat’s airport runway was declared safe.

The quakes measured 5.4 and 5.9 at relatively shallow depths, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

A third quake with a magnitude of 5.8 struck at sea west of Batanes later Saturday, it said.

‘Can’t stand or walk’

Esdicul said he was already in his office with the provincial governor when the second and more powerful quake struck about three hours after the first shock.

“We have to hold on because you can’t stand or walk. It was that strong,” he said.

The initial quake severely cracked the bell tower of the island’s old limestone church, the 19th-century Santa Maria de Mayan, a popular tourist attraction. The tower crumbled down when the second temblor hit the island, he said.

A one-story hospital was damaged, prompting patients to be evacuated and brought out in the open with dozens of injured quake victims. Some were later crammed into a basketball court with a roof due to heavy rains, Esdicul said.

Seven of those injured who sustained serious fractures were airlifted out of Itbayat to a bigger provincial hospital, he said.

Itbayat, part of the country’s northernmost Batanes Islands, has a population of about 2,800 people and lies in the Luzon Strait that separates the Philippines and Taiwan. The islands are famous for their tiny ancestral stone houses with coral walls and cogon grass roofs and are often lashed by seasonal typhoons.

As Metro Manila was having quake drill

As the quake jolted Batanes, thousands of residents were holding a pre-dawn earthquake drill about 250 kilometers (155 miles) to the south in Metro Manila, which was not affected by the quake.

Some journalists asked why the drills needed to be held so early in the morning, said Renato Solidum, a prominent seismologist and disaster-response expert who helped lead the drills.

When the earthquake hit Batanes shortly after, it helped officials underscore the fact that disaster can strike anytime, Solidum said.

One of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, the Philippines has frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because it lies on the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a seismically active arc of volcanos and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

A magnitude 7.7 quake killed nearly 2,000 people in Luzon in 1990.

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Inquirer calls for support for the victims of twin earthquakes in Batanes

Responding to appeals for help, the Inquirer is extending its relief to the families affected by the recent twin earthquakes in Batanes.

Cash donations may be deposited to the Inquirer Foundation Corp. Banco De Oro (BDO) Current Account No: 007960018860.

Inquiries may be addressed and emailed to Inquirer’s Corporate Affairs office through founda[email protected] or call 8978808 local 238 or 352

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MOST READ </s> Seven people were killed after back-to-back earthquakes struck the northern Philippines Saturday morning, according to CNN Philippines, citing a disaster official.

A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck the Batanes archipelago, the US Geological Survey reported.

About 20 minutes later, a second quake hit the same area near Itbayat at a magnitude of 4.5.

Photos from the Philippine Red Cross showed damage to homes. </s> A strong, shallow earthquake shook the central Philippines on Thursday, leaving at least two people dead and injuring more than 100, including several in a collapsed building where others were trapped, officials said.

At Least 10 Injured in Philippines Quake (The Weather Channel/Inform)

TACLOBAN, Philippines — A strong, shallow earthquake shook the central Philippines on Thursday, leaving at least two people dead and injuring more than 100, including several in a collapsed building where others were trapped, officials said.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a magnitude of 6.5 and struck at a depth of 6.5 kilometers (4 miles) in Leyte province. Filipino seismologists measured the depth at just 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) and said the quake, caused by movement of the Philippine Fault, was felt most strongly in Leyte’s Kananga town.

Shallow earthquakes generally cause more damage on the Earth’s surface.

A building collapsed in Kananga, killing one person, injuring more than 20 others and trapping at least six, Kananga Mayor Rowena Codilla told DZMM radio.

One person was pulled out from the building alive but injured, Codilla said. She said rescuers are digging a hole in an effort to reach the six others.

“They’re alive because they are communicating with our disaster people,” she said, adding that the rescuers were moving carefully to prevent the rest of the building from tumbling down.

The building had a grocery store, a hardware store and a beauty parlor on the ground floor and a guest house on the second floor, she said.

The quake caused power outages in Kananga and outlying areas.

Thousands of residents, office workers and students fled from homes, buildings and schools, with some falling over as the ground shook. Many refused to return home because of aftershocks.

Mayor Richard Gomez of Ormoc city, about 30 kilometers (17 miles) from Kananga, told DZMM that a landslide hit a house and killed a young woman. More than 100 others were injured in the area, including many who were “traumatized and hysterical,” he said.

The strong shaking caused cracks in some buildings and roads in the city and power was automatically shut off, Gomez said.

Ormoc’s airport will be closed starting Friday to allow an inspection, officials said.

Delia Vilbar, the treasurer of Ormoc, said she was attending a meeting on the second floor of City Hall when the earthquake struck.

“It was very strong, and the building was shaking,” she said. “I sat down while others in the room went under the table.”

When she went outside to the street, she saw people crying and embracing each other, she said.

Asked about the earthquake, President Rodrigo Duterte, who was visiting southern Bukidnon province, said he had not received any reports of major damage.

The quake struck in a region that was devastated in November 2013 by Typhoon Haiyan, which whipped up huge waves that left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, leveled entire villages and displaced more than 5 million villagers. Tacloban city, which was hard hit by Haiyan, lost electrical power after Thursday’s earthquake.

The Philippines sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where earthquakes and volcanoes are common. A magnitude 7.7 quake killed nearly 2,000 people in the northern Philippines in 1990.
At least nine people are killed and 60 others injured when two earthquakes strike the province of Batanes in the Philippines.