A strong earthquake struck the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on Thursday, killing at least five people and rattling an area still unsettled from a quake that killed at several people two days before.
The earthquake on Thursday, which the United States Geological Survey measured at magnitude 6.5, struck about 25 miles southwest of the city of Davao, a regional capital of 1.6 million people.
A village elder was killed in Batasan when the village hall collapsed on him and he was trapped, said Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, the governor of Cotabato Province.
Elsewhere in the province, at least four other people were killed, according to the local news media, including one man who was pinned by a felled tree.
Tuesday’s quake, which was magnitude 6.6, caused wide destruction of schools and other buildings on Mindanao. Classes in much of the area had been canceled since then. When Thursday’s temblor struck, more than 12,700 people from nearly 60 villages were in evacuation centers, having been forced from their homes in the Tuesday quake. The one Thursday sent residents panicking and threw ongoing aid efforts into chaos.
“We need laminated tents and mats because the residents are sleeping outside evacuation centers,” said Ms. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza. “We also need water or water containers, mosquito nets, food packs and blankets. As for medicines, we need medicines for hypertension, coughs as well as anti-tetanus shots.” The quake also caused power to go out in large parts of the affected provinces, she said. In some instances, damage to buildings caused on Tuesday may have saved lives on Thursday, as residents avoided homes and buildings thought to be unsafe.
Images circulating on social media showed the collapsed facade of Eva’s Hotel in the town of Kidapawan. The authorities initially feared that up to 10 people could be trapped in the building, but the town’s mayor, Joseph Evangelista, later confirmed that no one was inside at the time.
Source: New York Times
