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Photo from the Archdiocesan Shrine of Santa Rosa de Lima |
Relief, search and rescue operations swung into gear today
as the Philipines woke up to the damage left by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake that
shook northern Cebu for more than 10 seconds from 9:59 last night.
An official toll has recorded 61 dead and 147 injured, and
officials are expecting more.
Reports from Bogo City, about 10 kilometers from the offshore
quake’s epicenter, indicated that 22 people had been found dead during search
and retrieval operations. Mayor Mayel Martinez told reporters that majority of
the dead were found in a hospital whose walls had collapsed.
The earthquake, which was triggered from 10 kilometers deep, toppled or damaged at least 22 buildings across the Visayas, including
a mall in Consolacion, Cebu, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction
and Management Council (NDRRMC).
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| Location of quake's epicenter |
As in the earthquake that devastated Bohol in 2013, centuries-old
churches bore the most serious damage.
In Bantayan Island, a video from residents captured the collapse of the façade of Parroquia de San Pedro Apostol Bantayan, bringing with it lights strung around the church. (Here is a video showing the tragedy:facebook.com/reel/1317610906512512/?)fs=e&s=TIeQ9V&mibextid=wwXIfr&rdid=NhhBxDtAaVfuSCmQ&share_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fshare%2Fr%2F19pe2FGqM3%2F%3Fmibextid%3DwwXIfr#
The 139-year-old Archdiocesan Shrine of Sta. Rosa de Lima in
Daanbantayan, built in 1886 and declared the first archdiocesan shrine in the
Philippines dedicated to St. Rose of Lima in 2022, suffered extensve damage, with
its front collapsng into the cortyard.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
In response, the Cebu Archdiocese released an advisory
asking all parishes and rectories to undergo structural assessment to ensure
they were safe after the earthquake.
Cebu Archbishop Alberto Uy has asked parishes in northern
Cebu to refrain from holding the Holy Mass in their churches until experts have
certified they were safe.
The Cebu provincial government also reported a commercial
building and a school in Bantayan had collapsed, while a fast food restaurant
in Bogo was heavily damaged.
In San Remigio, Cebu, parts of the San Remigio Sports Complex
and Evacuation Center collapsed during a basketball tournament, resulting in an
unspecified number of deaths.
"This sports complex doubles as an evacuation center.
Its design, in theory, should be able to withstand natural calamities,
including earthquakes given that it serves as an evacuation center during
disasters. The sports complex is a three year-old structure," according to
netizen Gerry Cacanindin.
Meanwhile, the NDRRMC reported that relief operations are
underway in affected towns.
Philippine Army’s 53rd Engineer Brigade has initially
deployed 158 troops to conduct search and rescue missions in Medellin, Cebu
City, Lapulapu, Cebu City, Brgy. Caradio-an, Himamaylan, NOC, Sabang II, Allen,
Northern Samar, Kuta Kankabato, San Jose, Tacloban City, and Dingle, Iloilo..
The teams also deployed an ambulance and mission-essential
equipment to administer immediate medical care to the injured.
The Philippine Red Cross has sent ambulances stationed in Cebu,
Cebu-Bogo, and Masbate to the affected areas to provide first aid and welfare
services to the injured. PRC urged
victims to call its hotline 143 for immediate help.
The Department of Social welfare and Development’s Central
Visayas office has shipped to Cebu 1,000 boxes of Ready-to-Eat Food (RTEF) and family
food packs, through a Philippine Coast Guard ship.
Health Secretary Ted Herbosa has deployed emergency medical
response teams from Cebu City and medical teams from the Vicente Sotto Memorial
Medical Center (DOH-VSMMC). The teams includded general surgeons, emergency
medicine doctors and orthopedic specialists, who brought medical supplies they
need to treat the injured.
"There could be people trapped beneath collapsed buildings," provincial rescue official Wilson Ramos told the Agence France Presse, citing rescue efforts underway in San Remigio and Bogo. He said he did not know how many people were missing.
