“IN SHOCK”
Martham Pacilan, a 25-year-old resident of the resort town of Bantayan, also near the epicentre, said he was at the town square near a church, which was damaged by the quake.
“I heard a loud booming noise from the direction of the church then I saw rocks falling from the structure. Luckily no one got hurt,” he told AFP.
“I was in shock and in panic at the same time but my body couldn’t move, I was just there waiting for the shake to stop.”
Agnes Merza, a carer based in Bantayan, said her kitchen tiles had cracked.
“It felt as though we would all fall down. It’s the first time I have experienced it. The neighbours all ran out of their homes. My two teenage assistants hid under a table because that’s what they were taught in the boy scouts,” the 65-year-old told AFP.
Earthquake monitoring agencies had pegged the depth of the quake at around 10km and recorded multiple aftershocks, the strongest a magnitude of 6. Another monitoring agency said there was no tsunami threat following the quake.
Philippine seismology agency Phivolcs warned of aftershocks and damage from the offshore tremor. It also warned that “strong currents and rapid changes of seawater level are expected”.
“The concerned public is advised to be on alert for unusual waves,” it said in an advisory.
Recovery efforts were being hampered by the dark as well as aftershocks, he added. The USGS has recorded four quakes of magnitude 5.0 or higher in the area following the first tremor.
The Philippines lies in the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where volcanic activity and earthquakes are common. It saw two major earthquakes in January with no casualties reported. In 2023, a 6.7 magnitude offshore earthquake killed eight people.
Source: CNA
