Japan to provide emergency relief aid to quake-hit areas in Northern Luzon

The government of Japan will provide emergency relief goods to help affected areas following the magnitude 7 earthquake in Northern Luzon, the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines said.

The embassy said emergency relief goods such as generators, portable jerry cans, tents, sleeping pads, and plastic sheets will be provided through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

“In light of the humanitarian perspective and the close relations between Japan and the Republic of the Philippines, Japan has decided to provide emergency assistance to the Philippines to support people affected by the earthquake,” the embassy said in a statement issued on Friday.

“Japan will continue to carry out assistance towards the earliest possible reconstruction of the affected area while taking into account the needs of the Philippines,” it added.

The number of those who have died due to the earthquake that hit Northern Luzon on Wednesday has risen to 10, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said on Friday.

NDRRMC spokesperson Mark Timbal said the bodies of four persons reported missing in Abra had been found.

Based on its 6 a.m. report on Friday, the NDRRMC said 136 were injured in Ilocos, Cagayan, and Cordillera due to the earthquake.

More than 1,000 aftershocks have been recorded so far after the magnitude 7 earthquake in Abra, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said Friday.

PHIVOLCS chief Renato Solidum said incidents of aftershocks were expected to continue in the next several weeks. —Richa Noriega/KG, GMA News