MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 15, 2013) – Philippine authorities said the death toll in the deadly quake that hit the Visayas region has risen to 67, but television reports, quoting government officials claimed as many as 77 were killed in the tragedy in Bohol and Cebu provinces.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said 57 people died in Bohol; 9 in Cebu and one more in Siquijor province in central Visayas. It said at least 164 people were injured in the magnitude 7.2 quake that struck the region.
Dr. Renato Solidum Jr., of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, said quake was tectonic in origin and has been traced 33 kilometer deep east of Carmen town in Bohol province. Solidum said they recorded many aftershocks, one had magnitude 4.5 and the rest were smaller shaking.
The earthquake also hit Tagbilaran City in Bohol; Iloilo City, Hinigaran and La Carlota towns in Negros Occidental; Masbate City, Roxas City, San Jose, Culasi, Antique and Guihulngan towns in Negros Occidental, and even in Davao and Pagadian cities.
The quake damaged many buildings and old churches and destroyed roads and bridges in many areas and cut off power in the provinces.
The Sulu provincial government has expressed sympathy to the victims of the earthquake.
Fazlur Rahman Abdulla, head of the Sulu Area Coordinating Council, said the acting Governor, Sakur Tan, has offered prayers to the victims.
“We share with acting Governor Sakur Tan in expressing sympathies and prayers to the victims of earthquake in Visayas, and some parts of the country. We invoke Allah’s continuous protection from calamities, and also reminded to seriously invest in furtherance of individual communal disaster preparedness at our end,” he told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
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