THOUSANDS RETURN HOME AFTER MAGNITUDE 7.7 QUAKE TRIGGERED
TSUNAMI
[PHOTO -Residents arrive at the provincial capitol building in
Tandag City, Surigao Del Sur Province, in the southern island of Mindanao on
August 31, 2012, after a tsunami alert was issued following a 7.6 magnitude
offshore earthquake that hit the country. Thousands of people on the country's
eastern coast returned to their homes on Saturday. STR,
Getty Images]
MANILA, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012 (BULLETIN)
Thousands of people on the country's eastern coast returned to their homes
on Saturday after fleeing inland when a magnitude 7.7 earthquake off Samar
triggered a tsunami warning.
Most of the residents had fled by the time waves of up to half a meter (20
inches) hit coastal areas within an hour of the temblor striking offshore late
Friday, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) chief
Benito Ramos said.
"They feared they would be swamped by waves as large as those in the Japan
tsunami, so it was not difficult to convince them to leave," he said. In March,
2011, almost 20,000 people died when a tsunami struck the northern coast of
Japan after an 8.9 quake.
"Most of them returned home after the tsunami alert was lifted just after
midnight, although about 50 families remained at evacuation centers, fearing a
tsunami could still strike."
The quake also triggered a landslide that killed a woman and injured her
grandchild in Cagayan de Oro City, Ramos said.
[Photo -Restaurant owners wait for customers in the town of
Guiuan, Eastern Samar province, southeast of Manila on September 1, 2012, a day
after a 7.6 magnitude offshore earthquake hit the province. Thousands of people
on the Philippines' Pacific coast returned to their homes on September 1.TED ALJIBE, Getty Images]
The tremor was felt not only in Eastern Samar, but in other parts of the
Visayas and some areas in Southern Luzon and Mindanao.
The United States Geological Survey placed the earthquake 198 kilometers east
southeast of Borongan, Samar.
The temblor was felt at intensity 7 in Giuan, Oras, Sulat, Borongan City in
Eastern Samar; and Tacloban City, Leyte; intensity 6 in Siargao, Surigao del
Norte; Palo, Leyte; and Saint Bernard, Southern Leyte; intensity 5 in Mati City,
Compostela, Legaspi City, Iloilo City, Bislig City, Iligan City, Davao City,
Cateel in Davao Oriental, and Roxas City, Capiz; intensity 4 in Butuan City,
Catbalogan City, Cagayan De Oro City, Dipolog City, Manukan in Zamboanga Del
Norte, Tagum in Davao Del Norte, Digos City, Dumaguete City, and Bacolod City;
intensity 3 in Cotabato City, Mambajao, Camiguin, and General Santos City,
Kidapawan City, Jaro in Iloilo, and Sindanga, Zamboanga Del Norte; and intensity
2 in Marawi City, Sipalay City, Hinigaran, La Carlota, La Granja, Negros
Occidental, and Cebu City.
Authorities wasted no time warning villages in Northern Samar, Eastern Samar,
Leyte, Southern Leyte, Surigao Del Norte, and Surigao del Sur facing the Pacific
Ocean to evacuate to higher grounds.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) raised the
tsunami alert to 3, the highest level, at around 9 p.m.
The alert was lifted at 12:10 a.m. Saturday.
The NDRRMC said the tsunami did not reach life-threatening heights.
The National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) reported a
tsunami in Surigao City with initial heights of 16 centimeters and 19
centimeters at 10:48 p.m.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Hawaii also reported a three
centimeter tsunami recorded by tide gauges in Legazpi City at 9:43 p.m. and
Davao City at 9:50 p.m.
[PHOTO -Wooden fishing boats are placed on stilts due to
fishermen temporarily stopping fishing after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit the
province with local authorities declaring a tsunami alert earlier in the night
in the coastal town of Guiuan, eastern Philippines, southeast of Manila. TED ALJIBE, Getty Images]
Waves less than half-meter high were observed in Pilar, Surigao del Norte and
in Siargao Island about 10 minutes after the quake.
The NDRRMC said the only earthquake-related fatality was Elenita Ubalde, who
was killed when a landslide triggered by the temblor buried her house in Dacudao
Compound, Upper Kolambong, Barangay Lapasan, Cagayan de Oro.
Ubalde's five-year-old grandson, Adrian Rosales, was injured in the
landslide.
Ramos said a house caught fire in Bunawan, Agusan del Norte, after a kerosene
lamp fell during the tremor.
In Eastern Samar, three bridges, a gymnasium, and several houses sustained
cracks but no other major damage was reported.
Cracks in the road were also reported in St. Bernard, Southern Leyte, but all
roads and bridges in the areas remained passable.
In Surigao City, close to 200,000 residents including farm animals ran onto
the city streets during the quake.
Guests of different hotels and tourists inns also left in a hurry.
[PHOTO -Residents ride on a motor boat, as they head back
to their homes after authorities lifted the tsunami warning caused by a 7.6
magnitude earthquake that hit the province the previous night, in the coastal
town of Guiuan, eastern Philippines, southeast of Manila on September 1,
2012.TED ALJIBE, Getty Images]
Regional Director Blanche T. Gobenciong of the Office of Civil Defense said
transformers of electric posts in Pilar town, Siargao, exploded, cutting power
to the area.
"The effect of the earthquake was very minimal and I'm glad to see the
immediate response of our officials and even the people. They evacuated even
before the tsunami warning was sounded," said Ramos.
Power was restored in most areas, except in Siargao, Surigao del Norte, and
Eastern Samar.
Samar resident Rosita Abodi took her large extended family of 17 including
nephews, nieces and grandchildren back home near the coast of Guiuan, about 140
km from the quake's epicenter, before dawn.
"It was a full moon, and my brother said he saw the water retreat from the
shoreline. He was the one who warned us to leave," said the 60-year-old woman,
who was back at work serving food at her small café on Saturday.
"When we heard the news we ran, because there was no transport available. We
slept on cardboard boxes on the floor of a schoolroom. We did not have any
blankets nor mosquito nets," she told AFP.
Abodi said it was the first time in her life that she was forced from home in
Guiuan, a fishing town on the southern tip of Samar, despite the area lying
within the Philippines' typhoon belt.
Parish priest Lope Robredillo said Samar's entire east coast suffered a power
outage from the quake, but he did not see any visible damage to the town's
buildings and roads.
"People here are used to typhoons, but a tsunami is a different proposition
because Guiuan is almost entirely surrounded by water," said the 56-year-old
Robredillo.
Guiuan Mayor Annaliza Kwan, told DZMM radio in Manila in a telephone
interview that between 8,000 and 9,000 of the town's 44,000 residents fled the
tsunami.
In Leyte, Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez reported between 3,000 and
4,000 people were evacuated, but damage was limited to broken glass at a
shopping mall.
Almost 12 hours after quake, some 150 aftershocks followed, the Philippine
Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.
Phivolcs Director Dr. Renato Solidum said the temblor was caused by the
movement of tectonic plates, particularly along the Philippine Trench.
As of 8 a.m. Saturday, 153 aftershocks have been recorded by Phivolcs, but
Soriano noted that not all of these were felt.
The strongest aftershock was magnitude 6.8 at 9:27 p.m. Friday in Surigao del
Sur.
"Unlike the 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Negros Occidental last February 6
that originated from populated areas, the tremor last Friday was off shore.
Lesser aftershocks will be felt because the epicenter is kilometers away from
the populated areas," Soriano said.
Malacañang on Saturday commended national and local government units (LGUs)
for the quick response during the earthquake.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the quick response
lessened threats to the residents in coastal areas affected by the tsunami.
"We observed protocols. The protocols were followed by the people who should
have been alerted [had been alerted]," Valte said.
She said President Benigno S. Aquino III instructed Defense Secretary
Voltaire Gazmin to monitor the tsunami and ensure that evacuation in the
affected areas was peaceful and orderly. —with additional
reports from Ellalyn B. De Vera, Madel R. Sabater, Mike Crismundo, Aaron
Recuenco, Raymund Antonio and AFP
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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