7.0 earthquake rattles Philippines, leaves at least 5 dead
Residents of the northern Philippines were startled Wednesday morning when a 7.0-magnitude earthquake sent powerful tremors throughout the island of Luzon and into the capital of Manila. The strong temblor killed at least five people, injured dozens more and caused a slew of destruction around the epicenter.
The earthquake struck at 8:43 a.m. Wednesday, local time, near the municipality of Tayum in the province of Abra, with a rather shallow depth of around 10 miles (17 km) below the earth's surface, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. The quake had an initial magnitude of 7.3 but after further review, the intensity was revised to 7.0.
Dozens of aftershocks have jolted the region since the initial rumbling, with some of the strongest ranging in magnitude from 4.0 to 5.4.
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Video footage from the affected area showed a road buckled by the power of the shock waves emitted by the earthquake as shaken residents gathered outside. In Ilocos Sur, onlookers screamed and ran for safety as pieces of the Bantay Bell Tower crumbled to the ground amid the rumblings.
Michael Brillantes, who works as a safety officer near where the quake struck, feared "the ground would open up" as the violent shaking began, according to a cellphone interview with The Associated Press (AP). "We rushed out of the office, and I heard screams and some of my companions were in tears," Brillantes said, adding that "it was the most powerful quake I've felt."
In the Philippine capital of Manila, located over 260 miles (418 km) south of the quake's epicenter, intense shaking prompted the evacuation of at least two hospitals. Patients and medical personnel were safely transferred back into the buildings when only a few minor cracks in the walls were discovered by engineers, according to The AP. Patients and staff were also ushered out of a hospital in Abra.
Light shaking was reported as far south as Batangas City, according to the United States Geological Survey's (USGS) intensity report map.
In a post on a Facebook, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assured residents that there would be a prompt response to those in need in the hardest-hit areas.
The Philippine Red Cross was quickly on the scene attending to the injured, distributing aid items and assisting with the evacuation of compromised buildings. In one image posted by the agency on Twitter, a damaged building was seen leaning precariously toward a roadway strewn with debris. Windshields of vehicles were also seen smashed by blocks of cement that had fallen.
As rescue and recovery operations continue in the days ahead, AccuWeather meteorologists say the weather pattern could cause additional hardships for displaced residents and emergency crews.
"There will be times of clouds and sunshine with a few showers and thunderstorms to dodge over the next few days," AccuWeather Meteorologist Rob Richards said. "Some of these storms could produce locally heavy rainfall which could lead to minor flooding problems."
Hillsides that have already been compromised during the earthquake will be most susceptible to flooding or mudslide concerns amid any heavier downpour.
Although earthquakes are not unusual in the Philippines, which is located in the Pacific's "Ring of Fire," temblors of Wednesday's magnitude are much less common. Since 1970, there have only been 11 other earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.5 or larger to occur within 155 miles (250 km) of the epicenter of Wednesday's quake, according to the USGS. An earthquake that occurred on July 16, 1990, around 134 miles (215 km) south of Wednesday's temblor was the strongest of the bunch with a magnitude of 7.7. Over 1,500 people died and more than 3,000 were injured in the 1990 earthquake.
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