A 7.2-MAGNITUDE earthquake hit the Central Visayas region last Tuesday, October 15, killing around 150, injuring almost 300 and displacing 9,000 as of Wednesday.
Bohol and Cebu, which bore the brunt of the damage, are currently under a state of calamity.
The quake rattled other nearby provinces including Iloilo, Siquijor, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Camiguin among others and was as felt as far south as Zamboanga.
Renato Solidum, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), said the energy of the earthquake was equivalent to 32 Hiroshima atomic bombs. “The magnitude 7.2 earthquake is within the category of a major earthquake,” he said in a report from GMA News. He added that this was the strongest earthquake to hit Bohol in 23 years, the last one having been a 6.8 quake in 1990.
Phivolcs pinned the center two kilometers southeast of Carmen, Bohol, with a depth of focus of 33 kilometers. It was an inland-based quake, ruling out the possibility of a tsunami, as what happened in 1990.
As of 5:00 PM on Tuesday, Phivolcs had recorded roughly 289 aftershocks. He said that the shocks could continue in the following days.
Ateneans in Visayas
Ateneo Resident Students Association (ARSA) President Von Cruz said that there are roughly 120 Atenean dormers from Cebu and Bohol. Some were in their respective provinces taking their semestral break.
Jireh Napoloreyes, a communication sophomore from Cebu, was in bed when the earthquake happened.
“It started at around 8:30 or 9:00 [in the morning], and the first few moments, I assumed it was a harmless earthquake, but then I heard glass breaking and my brother yelling and my dad pounding on my door… We all ran downstairs together. My mom was already under the dining table and when she saw us, she yelled for us to join her and we all managed to squeeze ourselves under the table.”
“Aftershocks have been happening all day,” she continued. “Also, most houses don’t have [tap] water anymore. Such is the case in my subdivision.”
The Ateneo Disaster Response and Management Team is currently discussing plans for relief operations and updates will be posted soon. In the meantime, ARSA Director Tim Gabuna and Cruz are available for contact should any Ateneans in the area need help.
Editor’s note: Information regarding relief operations is available on the ARSA Info Board and ARSA Aguhon Facebook pages.
