KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews/05 June)—At least 204 families or 1,216 individuals have been affected by last Saturday’s 5.7 magnitude quake in Carmen, North Cotabato that triggered 198 aftershocks until early evening Tuesday, the Office of Civil Defense Region 12 (OCD-12) reported.
Citing the OCD-12 report, Eduardo del Rosario, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said that of the 198 aftershocks recorded by the Philippine Volcanology and Seismology Institute (Phivolcs) as of 6 p.m. Tuesday, 11 were felt in Carmen town and neighboring areas.
He said the affected residents were from barangays Kimadzel, Kibudtungan, Liliongan, Aroman and Ranzo in Carmen town.
Seven persons were injured in last Saturday’s tremor, del Rosario added.
Of the 141 houses affected by the earthquake, 53 were totally damaged and 38 partially destroyed, the OCD-12 report showed.
The quake also damaged 24 elementary and high school buildings, a covered court, three churches, a factory, an apartment, a health center, a multi-purpose building and a mosque in Carmen town, it added.
Two bridges in Carmen town connecting North Cotabato to Bukidnon province and Cagayan de Oro City—the Mutian and Upian bridges—were also damaged by the earthquake that also caused cracks on paved roads, OCD-12 said.
Local media reports said here that only vehicles weighing not more than five tons were allowed to pass the damaged bridges as they were supposedly weakened by the successive aftershocks.
The provincial government of North Cotabato and the municipal government of Carmen have declared a state of calamity because of the earthquakes.
The North Cotabato government reportedly estimated the cost of damage at not less than P70 million.
The OCD-12, which is based in nearby General Santos City, is still validating the extent of the damage and has yet to come up with a figure as of Wednesday morning.
The epicenter of last Saturday night’s 5.7 magnitude quake was 13 kilometers northwest of Carmen town.
The same magnitude occurred at 4:08 a.m. Monday with the epicenter at 17 kilometers northwest of Carmen, Phivolcs said.
Phivolcs also recorded continued aftershocks until Wednesday with a 3.6 magnitude occurring at 4:09 a.m. with the epicenter at 12 kilometers northwest of Carmen town.
Roy Dorado, OCD-12 operations division chief, said last Monday that at least 46 families have been provided with financial assistance worth P10,000 each by the Carmen local government unit.
He went to Carmen Wednesday as part of the agency’s continuing monitoring activity on the quake’s impact. (Bong S. Sarmiento/MindaNews)