Philippines: More than 70 missing after earthquake-triggered landslides

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Philippines: More than 70 missing after earthquake-triggered landslides

2012-02-07 21:39:30 GMT+7 (ICT)

TAYASAN, PHILIPPINES (BNO NEWS) -- The death toll as a result of a powerful earthquake which struck the central Philippines on late Monday morning has risen to at least 15, officials said on Tuesday. More than 70 others remain missing.

Search and rescue operations were ongoing throughout the day on Tuesday after two earthquake-triggered landslides buried nearly 100 houses, leaving as many as 71 people missing. The largest landslide took place in the municipality of La Libertad, leaving 42 people missing, while a landslide in Guihulngan City buried as many as 29 people.

Benito Ramos, the Executive Director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), confirmed at least 15 people had been killed in the affected area while 52 others have been treated for various injuries. Among those killed were at least five children, the youngest being a 7-year-old boy who died when a concrete wall collapsed at his elementary school in Gulhulngang City.

In Manila, presidential spokesman Abigail Valte said President Benigno S. Aquino III is closely following the situation. "The President is deeply concerned about our countrymen in the affected areas," he said. "He is focused on ensuring that services resume at the soonest possible time. He appeals to everyone to remain calm and cooperate with the authorities as they work to bring these areas back to normality."

The 6.9-magnitude earthquake at 11.49 a.m. local time (0349 GMT) on Monday was centered about 5.8 kilometers (3.6 miles) northwest of Tayasan, a 4th class municipality in the province of Negros Oriental. It struck about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS).

Following the earthquake, PHIVOLCS briefly issued a tsunami alert level two for areas along the coast of the Negros and Cebu Islands, warning residents to be on alert for unusual waves. But although no mandatory evacuation orders were given, scores of people in the region fled inland and to higher ground in fear of a tsunami.

There were no reports of a major tsunami, but at least five cottages were wiped out by a small tsunami at the Comendador Beach Resort in La Libertad, causing no injuries. Tsunami waves also damaged at least 20 residential houses elsewhere in La Libertad.

The Philippines is on the so-called 'Pacific Ring of Fire', an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin which is prone to frequent and large earthquakes. Volcanic eruptions also occur frequently in the region.

In July 1990, a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the densely populated island of Luzon, killing at least 2,412 people and injuring thousands more. It was one of the most deadliest earthquakes in the Philippines in recent history.

Only more deadly was an enormous 8.1-magnitude earthquake in August 1976 which shook Mindanao island and had its epicenter in the Moro Gulf. It caused a destructive tsunami in the Celebes Sea, causing devastation in settlements along the coast of the Moro Gulf on Mindanao island and on the nearby Sulu Islands.

The 1976 earthquake was felt on all of the central islands of the Philippines Archipelago and in the southern part of Luzon. As a result of the earthquake and tsunami, more than 8,000 people were killed or left missing, 10,000 were injured, and 90,000 were left homeless.

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