MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 16, 2013) – President Benigno Aquino on Wednesday flew to Cebu and Bohol provinces in central Philippines and inspected ruins in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake that killed over 100 people.
Aquino, accompanied by some of his Cabinet officials, was also briefed on the progress of government efforts to restore normalcy and help those affected by the magnitude 7.2 quake that struck the region.
The quake injured more than couple hundreds and displaced thousands of people in the Visayas. 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.
Dr. Renato Solidum Jr., of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, said the quake was tectonic in origin and has been traced 33 kilometer deep east of Carmen town in Bohol province. Solidum said they recorded more than 800 aftershocks.
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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