4 dead, 64 hurt due to magnitude 7 Abra quake — OCD

The magnitude 7 earthquake that struck Abra on Wednesday morning has left four people dead and 64 others injured, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported.

The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) earlier reported that there were five fatalities.

NDRRMC spokesperson Mark Timbal said early Thursday morning corrected the figure saying that there were four fatalities after a strong quake hit Abra Wednesday morning.

Timbal told reporters that there were no fatalities reported in Gattaran, Cagayan province.

An updated report is expected to be issued on Thursday by the NDRRMC.

Based on the OCD report issued on Wednesday afternoon, Assistant Secretary Bernardo Alejandro IV said two fatalities were in La Trinidad and Tuba, Benguet and one each in the areas of Balbalan, Kalinga; Bangued, Abra; and Gattaran, Cagayan.

He said that of the 64 injured, 57 were in Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and seven in Region 1.

Alejandro, citing the report from the Department of Education, said least 61 schools were damaged in Regions 1, 2, 3, and CAR.

The OCD official said 428 houses were damaged, of these 423 were in CAR and five were in Region 1.

He said they are still waiting reports on the damage on other assets and agriculture from other regions.

Affected regions

Reporting to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. earlier, Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said the affected regions are 1, 2, and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), or 15 provinces, 15 cities, 218 municipalities, and 6,756 barangays.

“Ang initial reports there are road closures in some parts of Abra, power interruptions in Abra and Benguet. Intermittent communication lines in Region 1, landslides in some parts of CAR, minor damages in other regions,” he said.

He said at least 29 municipal roads were damaged in CAR, while three bridges in Abra and 173 buildings both private and government were also damaged.

On damaged buildings, Abalos said at least 33 were affected in Baguio, 59 in Abra, two in Apayao, 62 in Benguet, seven in Kalinga, and 10 in Mountain Province.

Heritage sites damaged

National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC)  spokesperson Mark Timbal, meanwhile, said damaged houses and heritage structures were recorded in Cordillera and Region 1.

“Reported damages po sa infrastructure medyo marami pong naapektuhang structures dyan sa Cordillera at Ilocos Region pati ng mga heritage structures natin, mga heritage churches at buildings nag sustain po ng damage. In the Cordillera, nakareceive po tayo ng information na more than 400 houses have reported sustained damages,” he said in Super Radyo dzBB report.

(There were many reported damage to infrastructures in the Cordillera and Ilocos Region as well as our heritage structures, heritage churches, and buildings. In the Cordillera, we have received information that more than 400 houses have reported sustained damage.)

Kalinga fatality

In an interview with Super Radyo dzBB on Wednesday, Police Colonel Peter Tatag Jr., director of Kalinga Provincial Police Office, said one dead, while six others injured in a construction site in Balbalan, Kalinga following the earthquake.

FLASH REPORT: Isa, patay habang 6 ang sugatan sa isang construction site sa Balbalan, Kalinga matapos ang nangyaring magnitude 7 na lindol — PCol. Peter Tagtag, Jr., Director, Kalinga Provincial Police Office pic.twitter.com/594Tvjiba8

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) July 27, 2022

“Nahulog siya roon sa taas na sinasabi nilang project, naglalagay sila ng metal sa gilid ng kalsada natin para hindi mahulog sana yung mga bato. At saka itong anim na kasama niya nadaganan po ng ilang bato,” Tatag said.

(He fell from a site project where they were putting metal on the side of the road to prevent rocks from falling. His six companions were also hurt.)

He said clearing operations were also conducted in the area.

No national emergency declaration for now

Meanwhile, Marcos was asked during the press conference if there is a need to declare a state of calamity following the strong earthquake.

He believed that at present, it is not necessary to declare a national emergency. However, Marcos said this could change depending on the situation in the field that they will receive. 

"Generally ang SOP diyan, ang state of national calamity kapag apektado ang tatlong region, automatic 'yun eh. Hindi naman naapektuhan ang tatlong region. So far let's say, Region I and CAR and so I don't think it's necessary right now to declare national emergency," Marcos said.

(The SOP in declaring a state of national calamity is needed when three regions are affected. So far, only Region I and CAR are affected so I don't think it's necessary right now to declare a national emergency.)

"However, depending on the information that comes back, I'm sure marami pa tayong mababalitaan, marami pang impormasyon ang makarating sa atin... baka mangyari 'yun, I hope not," he added.

(However, depending on the information that comes back, I'm sure we will still get information, so that can happen... I hope not.)

Marcos said the government is also monitoring the two possible cyclones that could enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility in the coming days as this could affect their response measures.

"Kinakatakutan namin baka umulan, kasi there'll be great danger again of landslides so binabantayan namin 'yan... And, usually naman naidentiy natin 'yung areas of risk," he said.

(We are afraid that it might rain because there'll be great danger again of landslides. We are monitoring that and usually we identify the areas of risk.)

"Huwag sanang umulan at least for the next two days para makapagstabilize tayo lalo na ng mga daan," he added.

(I hope it will not rain in the next two days so we could stabilize the situation.)

'Very strong'

According to PHIVOLCS, the quake — earlier reported as magnitude 7.3 — occurred at 8:43 a.m. and was located at 17.64°N, 120.63°E - 003 km N 45° W of Tayum in Abra. It had a depth of 17 kilometers.

The quake was felt strongly in many areas in Luzon, including in Metro Manila.

Senator Imee Marcos, the President's sister, said several heritage sites and main roads in Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur were damaged after the strong earthquake.

As buildings shook and walls cracked in the municipality of Dolores in Abra, people ran outside, Police Major Edwin Sergio told Agence France-Presse.

"The quake was very strong," Sergio said, adding windows of the local market were broken.

A video posted on Facebook and verified by AFP showed cracks in the asphalt road and ground in Bangued.

A number of the injured in Bangued were taken to hospital, police chief Major Nazareno Emia told AFP.

"Some of the buildings here show cracks. Power was cut off and internet as well," he added.

Abra Representative Ching Bernos said the quake "caused damages to many households and establishments," but did not elaborate.

University student Mira Zapata was in her house in San Juan municipality when she felt "really strong shaking".

"We started shouting and rushed outside," she said, as aftershocks continued.

"Our house is ok but houses down the hill were damaged."

National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) chairman and Defense Officer-in-Charge Jose Faustino Jr. said the agency convened emergency meetings with other regional directors and issued directives of response actions following the quake.

Faustino, in his report to Marcos, said the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) issued two emergency alerts and warning messages in coordination with the PHIVOLCS.

"Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) prepared assets for mobilization already, we are talking about air assets and we could add more kung kinakailangan pa [if needed]," he said.

Ring of Fire

The Philippines is regularly rocked by quakes due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

Wednesday's quake was the strongest recorded in the Philippines in years and was felt across swathes of Luzon island, the most populous in the archipelago.

It was followed by more than 200 aftershocks, the local seismological agency said. Several of the subsequent quakes measured from magnitude 4.7 to 4.9, according to USGS.

Residents and office workers in Manila were evacuated from high-rise buildings. 

"Some of our personnel were pruning branches so they had to climb down immediately after they felt the strong shaking," said Pangasinan provincial police chief Colonel Richmond Tadina.

In Vigan City, in the province of Ilocos Sur, centuries-old structures built during the Spanish colonial period were damaged.

Verified video footage posted on Facebook showed the Bantay Bell Tower in the popular tourist destination partially crumbling.

Two visitors suffered minor injuries from falling debris, an official said.

"We can't rule out the possibility of another strong earthquake," said Renato Solidum, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS). 

In October 2013, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Bohol Island in the central Philippines, killing over 200 people and triggering landslides.

Old churches in the birthplace of Catholicism in the Philippines were badly damaged. Nearly 400,000 were displaced and tens of thousands of houses were damaged.

The powerful quake altered the island's landscape and a "ground rupture" pushed up a stretch of ground by about three meters, creating a wall of rock above the epicenter.

In 1990, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in the northern Philippines created a ground rupture stretching over a hundred kilometers.

Fatalities were estimated to reach over 1,200 and caused major damage to buildings in Manila. —with Agence France-Presse/KBK/RSJ/BAP, GMA News