One dead as strong earthquake hits Philippines

[Mark Berkowitz]

A strong earthquake struck the central Philippines on Thursday killing at least one person and damaging several houses and some infrastructure, officials said.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said aftershocks were expected but ruled out any tsunami following the earthquake of magnitude 6.5 that rocked the towns of Jaro and Kananga in Leyte province.

Congresswoman Lucy Torres-Gomez from the province said one person had been confirmed killed and Kananga had been "badly hit".

"There were cracks on the roads and in some areas landslides have been reported," she told ANC News Channel, adding that a building also collapsed.

"The aftershocks are still quite strong."

The U.S. Geological Survey said earlier the quake had a magnitude of 6.9 and struck southwest of Tacloban City, one of the areas hardest hit by a typhoon in 2013.

Hopefully, we're all doing OK.

[Queenie O.]

I feel sorry for those folks in Leyte affected by the quake and aftershocks. Maybe any forum members who live in Leyte or that particular could area could fill us in on what their situations are there.

We're across the way in northern Cebu province, and at the time the quake reportedly hit, we felt wavy tremors for about five seconds. The tide was low out on the mud flats, so no ocean movement to observe. I read this morning that generators were damaged in some parts of Cebu City and Toledo City causing some power outages. It was reported that even some areas in Negros had experienced tremors.

 

[Dave Hounddriver]

12 hours ago, Mark Berkowitz said:

the quake had a magnitude of 6.9 and struck southwest of Tacloban City, one of the areas hardest hit by a typhoon in 2013.

Makes me glad I did not choose to live in Tacloban.  It has been said that bad things come in threes so  .. . . prayers and best wishes to all Taclobanites

[sonjack2847]

It suprises me how little these people know about what to do in these situations.When I lived in Dalaguete my neighbours were going to leave their houses and walk down the lane to get to the road.The problem was that the wall was waving like a flag in the wind but they had no idea of the danger.I who have never experienced an earthquake before had to tell them to wait.

My prayers for the people of Tacloban.

[Jollygoodfellow]

4 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Makes me glad I did not choose to live in Tacloban.

Just to quote from a news story,

Quote

A receptionist at Hotel XYZ said the quake was felt in Tacloban, but did not damage buildings there.

“It was far away from here, we are OK,” the receptionist said.

A receptionist at a hotel in another part of the city reported the quake was felt but did not cause damage in the area. “We are safe,” he said.

 

Anyway this was my first earthquake and being home in Cebu on the 22nd floor I certainly felt it. Was not sure what was going on at first as I was in front of the computer and everything started moving, I actually thought I was getting very dizzy or had a medical problem but looked at some towels hanging and seen them swaying and then I realised it was an earthquake. 

 

[Dave Hounddriver]

1 hour ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Anyway this was my first earthquake and being home in Cebu on the 22nd floor I certainly felt it

Due to your distance from the epicenter, how do you feel about being on the 22nd floor if a 6.5 hits closer to the actual city of Cebu.  Any second thoughts about getting a place closer to ground level?

[intrepid]

I have a friend living in Dauis, Bohol and their power has been knocked out by the earthquake.  The government has told them it may be two weeks before it will be restored.  Since they live in the province and also have a well, they have no water.  I'm sure there are many like this and feel sorry for them.  However I'm thankful I have not yet had this experience.  Never wanted a generator but this makes me think that even a very small one might be worth having around.

[Queenie O.]

2 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Just to quote from a news story,

Anyway this was my first earthquake and being home in Cebu on the 22nd floor I certainly felt it. Was not sure what was going on at first as I was in front of the computer and everything started moving, I actually thought I was getting very dizzy or had a medical problem but looked at some towels hanging and seen them swaying and then I realised it was an earthquake. 

 

Same here JGF. I wasn't sure what it was or if I'd imagined it.  It  didn't even dawn on me till after, that it had been tremors, although I've experienced them before in the Philippines.

Edited July 7, 2017 by Queenie O.

[Jollygoodfellow]

47 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Due to your distance from the epicenter, how do you feel about being on the 22nd floor if a 6.5 hits closer to the actual city of Cebu.  Any second thoughts about getting a place closer to ground level?

No second thoughts. Building is designed to withstand strong quakes so l dont think there is too much to worry about. If it was an old building I might think different. 

[Snowy79]

20 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

No second thoughts. Building is designed to withstand strong quakes so l dont think there is too much to worry about. If it was an old building I might think different. 

This is the Philippines. There's a difference between having been designed to withstand strong Earthquakes and having been built to withstand them. 

I was in Manila a couple of months ago and was over 120km away from a 4.2 earthquake when my building started swaying. I was on the 18th floor and it was enough to wake me up, I'd hate to think how much it would have swayed if it was nearby. I certainly feel safer now on ground level.