A major magnitude 7.1 earthquake shook the central area of the Philippines last Tuesday, causing death and destruction mostly in the tourist destinations of Bohol island and the nearby Cebu islands.
At the time of going to press on Wednesday, the death toll was placed at 144, while there were nearly 300 people injured and approximately 30 people missing.
The quake’s epicentre was around 620km south-southeast of Manila, the country’s capital, and its depth was 20km, according to the US Geological Survey.
Despite the violent quake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said that there were no major risks of tsunamis. It warned that earthquakes of this proportion can sometimes cause tsunamis within 100kms of its epicentre.
Media reports say the millions of people who felt the strong effects of the natural disaster spent the night outdoors, including in some cases hospital patients, because of aftershocks. Over 840 aftershocks were registered, one of which reached magnitude 5.1.
“There are so many aftershocks. We are afraid,” a 64-year-old grandmother told Reuters, after her family and neighbours were forced to sleep next to a centuries-old church that collapsed in Loon, a small town home to around 43,000 people.
“We don’t have any more food and water because stores are closed, and the bridge is damaged. After the quake, water and mud came out of cracks on the ground in our backyard.”
Another report came from a tourist who told CNN he was riding a bike in Bohol when the earthquake suddenly hit, cracking the streets ahead of him.
“It was very strong,” he said. “I live in Tokyo. I am used to earthquakes. But this one was very strong. It shocked a lot of people here.”
He said he was still able to travel around and document some of the destruction, including a giant church that was decimated.
A view on the cataclysmic event also came from a 23-year old resident of Tagbilaran, a city near the earthquake’s centre. “I was asleep and my bed started shaking very hard,” she told the New York Times. She said that after the earthquake stopped she checked on the restaurant she works only to find it completely wrecked.
Rescue missions are still underway throughout the most affected regions and death tolls are expected to continue rising.
