2 dead, buildings damaged in Central Mindanao tremor

COTABATO CITY — A magnitude 7.8 earthquake jolted cities and provinces in Central Mindanao early Monday, June 8, damaging dozens of buildings and other structures and leaving two residents dead.

The tremor, strongest in General Santos City in Region 12, was also felt in cities and provinces in the Zamboanga peninsula in Region 9, Regions 11 and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Rolly Aquino, chief of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office in South Cotabato in Region 12, told reporters on Monday noon that local officials had reported two earthquake-related fatalities in Tupi, South Cotabato.

He said a resident reportedly died afterbeing hit by debris from a concrete structure that was destroyed by the earthquake.

“Another died of cardiac arrest while the ground was shaking,” Aquino, a registered nurse, said.

Officials from frontline emergency service agencies in Region 12 and local executives in General Santos City said dozens of buildings in the city and nearby areas in South Cotabato and Sarangani provinces were damaged as a result of the Magnitude 7.8 earthquake that shook the area for nearly two minutes.

Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao temporarily suspended classes in all schools across the 37 barangays under his jurisdiction.

BARMM Chief Minister Abdulrauf Macacua said engineers were immediately dispatched to inspect possible damage caused by the earthquake to buildings inside the 32-hectare Bangsamoro regional capitol in Cotabato City.

“All offices in our regional government center were closed temporarily too. Our emergency response agencies are all operating, ready to respond to emergencies,” Macacua said.

Gov. Yshmael Sali of Tawi-Tawi said schools in all towns in their province had all been closed as a precautionary measure in response to the tsunami alert issued by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

Tawi-Tawi has 11 island towns scattered across the southern territorial waters of BARMM.

The earthquake also triggered an estimated 20,000 tons of soil and rocks to cascade from a forested hillside beside Lake Holon in T’boli town, South Cotabato.

Major Gen. Alvin Luzon, commander of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said soldiers under Task Force GenSan in General Santos City were immediately deployed to support the local government's disaster response operations.

He said soldiers assisted LGU emergency responders and personnel from units of the Police Regional Office 12 in clearing debris from the damaged KCC mall building in General Santos City, which was scattered along a nearby thoroughfare. The mall had been closed when the earthquake struck.

Personnel of the 10th ID’s 27th and 28th Infantry Battalions, 1002nd Infantry Brigade and its 10th Emergency Response Company were also deployed to other earthquake-stricken towns and cities in Region 11 for emergency missions.

Army Major Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara, commander of the 6th Infantry Division, said officials of their 603rd Infantry Brigade and personnel from its units covering the seaside towns of Lebak, Kalamansig and Palimbang in Sultan Kudarat are on standby and ready to relocate villagers in coastal areas to higher grounds. 

Dozens of families in seaside communities in Kalamansig immediately evacuated to upland areas after hearing tsunami warnings on the radio from Philvocs and provincial officials.