A MAGNITUDE 6.1 earthquake occurred off Sarangani town in Davao Occidental yesterday morning, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.
The quake was not connected to last Friday’s magnitude 6.8 tremor that occurred in the same town, Phivolcs said, noting the epicenters.
The epicenter of yesterday’s quake, which was recorded at 10:48 a.m., was some 413 km southeast of Balut Island in Sarangani town. The quake was tectonic in origin and had a depth of 173 km. Phivolcs initially reported the quake at magnitude 5.8 but later upgraded it to magnitude 6.1.
As to last Friday’s quake, the epicenter was some 28 km southwest of Sarangani Island in Sarangani town. It was also tectonic in origin and had a depth of 63 km.
“The distance between the two events is more than 400 km. It (yesterday’s quake) is not related to the magnitude 6.8 event,” Phivolcs said.
The quake yesterday was felt at Intensity II in General Santos City, Koronadal City and towns of Tupi, Tampakan, and T’boli in South Cotabato, and the towns of Glan, Alabel, Malapatan, Malungon and Kiamba in Sarangani province.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said the number of people who died in the quake remained at nine as of yesterday.
Eight of the fatalities are from the Soccsksargen region, and one in the Davao region, the NDRRMC said. Seventeen were injured – 11 in Soccsksargen and six in Davao.
The number of affected population from 51 barangays in the two regions rose to 3,712 families or 16,360 individuals yesterday, from 3,696 families or 16,293 individuals last Tuesday.
Thirteen roads, five bridges, 227 infrastructures, and 1,705 houses were damaged in the two regions.
Mayor Victor James Yap Sr of Glan town in Sarangani said the municipal building and the town’s port were among the damaged structures.
Yap said town employees are using buildings, lent to the town government, to provide services to residents.
Yap said it may take one or two years to repair the damaged port.
The town was declared under a state of calamity on Tuesday.
Yap said four died and 85 were injured in the town due the earthquake last Friday.
He said the quake also damaged some 2,300 houses.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said P17.7 million worth of aid, including construction materials, has been distributed to the affected families affected by the Friday quake. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
