SOLDIERS DEPLOYED
PHOTO - Residents carry their belongings as they
cross a portion of an earthquake-damaged highway in Tuway village in Negros
Oriental province's La Libertad town on Tuesday. AFP
PHOTO]
MANILA, FEBRUARY 9,
2012 (MALAYA) BY VICTOR REYES - THE death
toll from the magnitude 6.9 quake that hit Negros Oriental Monday rose to 48
yesterday.
Ninety-two are missing, Col. Francisco Zosimo Patrimonio Jr., commander of
the Army's 302nd Brigade based in the province, also said.
President Aquino is flying today, his 52nd birthday, to Dumaguete City, where
the quake was felt at Intensity 7 like in Guihulngan City.
He would inspect damaged areas and meet with victims and those involved in
relief operations, said presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda
The official death toll from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management Council is lower, at 22, including seven new fatalities.
NDRRMC executive director Benito Ramos, who is in Negros Oriental, said the
seven new fatalities died in hospitals where they were brought after they were
pinned down by collapsed walls.
[PHOTO FROM ABS-CBN- President Aquino transfers to a waiting helicopter
shortly upon arrival in Dumaguete City on Wednesday. Aquino, who is celebrating
his 52nd birthday today, will visit areas affected by the 6.9 earthquake that
struck last Monday. Photo by Val Cuenca for
ABS-CBNnews.com]
The NDRRMC has listed 52 injured before information about the death of the
seven in the hospital.
Ramos said the number of missing remain at 71 – mostly victims of landslides
in Guihulngan City, which is near the epicenter of the quake, and La Libertad
town.
Told about the 48 fatalities reported by the Army, Ramos said he went to the
Army brigade headquarters earlier yesterday but they could not give him proof to
confirm the figure.
"As I said, if there is no body, there is no fatality. We insist that our
official report (of fatality) as of this time is 22," he said.
Patrimonio said his figures were culled from consolidated reports gathered
from Guihulngan City, and the towns of La Libertad, Tayasan, Jumalalud and
Bindoy.
He also said that the 92 missing include 30 persons reported buried in a
landslide in Planas village in Guihulngan City, and 42 buried in a landslide in
Solongon village, La Libertad town.
He did not give a breakdown of the dead but he reported on Monday night that
29 of 43 dead as of that time were from the landslide in Planas village. He said
10 more died in other parts of Guihulngan City while two died in Tayasan town
and one each in Jimalalud and Bindoy town.
[PHOTO FROM TWITTER - This' what happened in school in MANILA earlier
while the EARTHQUAKE hit Cebu. :O Lord Protect us! :))) #usjr http://pic.twitter.com/wgBvI2Dp]
Vice President Jejomar Binay visited the affected areas yesterday, according
to Patrimonio, and "we are looking at how to solve as early as possible the
power and water problem."
"The problem on water is dependent on electricity. If we have electricity,
we'll have water," he added.
Patrimonio said they are requesting a Navy ship to transport the "needed
supplies" in Guihulngan.
He also said there is still no power in Ayungon town, Canlaon City and
several other areas.
"Power lines were cut and the repair trucks of the electric cooperative
cannot enter because bridges are destroyed and cannot make the repairs. Some
electric posts were downed and they have to replace it. But no truck can enter,
so that's the problem," he said.
Many business establishments remain closed although small stores are open.
The Department of Health said at 56 patients of the Guihulngan District
Hospital have been forced to stay outside the health facility after it was
damaged by the quake.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said 909
aftershocks have been recorded since the quake hit at 11:47 a.m. Monday up to 1
p.m. yesterday.
Phivolcs seismology division OIC Ishmael Narag said the Monday quake was
caused by the movement of a "blind thrust fault," which was not visible in the
active fault map of Phivolcs.
According to the United States Geological Survey, a blind thrust fault is a
fault that does not rupture all the way up to the surface so there is no
evidence of it on the ground.
The USGS said that it is "buried" under the uppermost layers of rock in the
crust. – With Gilbert Bayoran, Jocelyn Montemayor, Angela de
Leon, and Gerard Naval
FROM MANILA STANDARD
400 soldiers deployed to quake-hit areas
THE government deployed 400 soldiers to help with rescue operations
after an earthquake killed at least 48 people and triggered landslides that left
dozens more missing.
A landslide set off by the 6.8-magnitude temblor killed 29 people in Planas
village, Col. Francisco Zosimo Patrimonio said. Fourteen died in nearby areas,
and 92 people are missing in total, Patrimonio said.
The Philippines has been battered by natural disasters in recent months,
killing dozens of people and sparking criticism of President Benigno Aquino's
handling of the crises.
The latest deaths could revive charges that the government hadn't planned for
such emergencies, Benito Lim, a political science professor at the Ateneo de
Manila University, said by phone.
"This government is too reactive instead of anticipating disasters," Lim
said.
"We are considered one of the most disaster-prone areas in the world. We have
yet to see a contingency plan to address the problem of natural disasters."
More than 700 aftershocks have been recorded as of this morning, said Renato
Solidum, director of the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. The official
death toll from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council was
15, with 71 people missing and 52 injured, according to a government statement.
Tuesday's deployment doubled the number of troops that were originally
assigned to rescue operations after the quake struck Negros and Cebu on Monday.
It was the worst disaster to hit the country since tropical storm Sendong killed
more than 1,200 people in December.
Mr. Aquino planned to fly to one of the quake-hit areas Wednesday to inspect
damage, his spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, said in an e-mail. The military sent five
helicopters and two ships to help with relief operations, and the government
made an appeal for food and clothing donations, Lacierda said.
"We are in the process of evaluating the damage at the moment," Mr. Aquino's
spokeswoman Abigail Valte said in a mobile-phone message Tuesday when asked if
Mr. Aquino had a disaster- response plan.
"We are prepared to provide whatever assistance is necessary."
The dead included two children killed after walls collapsed,
according to the council.
The casualties might rise as an estimated 72 people were buried by a
landslide in La Libertad, Patrimonio said in a mobile-phone message.
Aftershocks slowed rescue operations in the city of Guihulngan, where
electricity and water supplies were knocked out, Mayor Ernesto Reyes said by
phone.
Workers delivering water and restoring power were also slowed because at
least eight bridges were damaged, Patrimonio said.
"The whole mountain collapsed on the residents and they were swept into the
river," Reyes said. "Our problem here is that we don't have electricity, we
don't have water and we don't have food. We need medicines."
Local governments needed to improve disaster management, especially in the
landslide-prone areas, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said.
"There should be more regular drills and more intensive assessment on
landslide prone areas in case of earthquakes," Robredo said in an e-mailed
statement.
Aftershocks and false information after the quake threw the city of Cebu into
a "state of panic," Mayor Michael Rama said in a phone interview Monday.
"Information spread that seawater reached some parts of the city proper, so
many people panicked," he said.
Offices, schools and malls were shut in most parts of the Visayas hit by the
temblor, while power lines were brought down. A 7.7-magnitude quake killed more
than 1,500 people in Luzon in July 1990. Bloomberg
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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rights reserved
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HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
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