At least one person died while four were injured when a 6.6 magnitude earthquake rocked Masbate at 8:03am today.
A retired police colonel named Gilbert Sauro was reported dead by the authorities when the quake damaged his three-storey home in the village of Concepcion.
“The search and rescue operation of the provincial government is still ongoing because some people are still being missing after this house collapsed in the town of Cataingan [in] Masbate,” Masbate provincial administrator Rino Revalo told ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo in an interview today.
“No one can tell how many were there when the earthquake occurred. They’re still digging through the area where that house collapsed. That three-storey building really collapsed to the ground,” he added.
The earthquake also hit the Cataingan District Hospital and a coliseum where some locally stranded individuals are staying. The structures will not be used until they “are not properly assessed” by the local government.
“We won’t use the hospital for now because our personnel saw some cracks in the building. Our patients will stay outside; we set up temporary tents,” he said.
Masbate has several COVID-19 cases, the official said, but most of them are asymptomatic.
The epicenter of the earthquake was located seven kilometers southwest of Cataingan town. The state seismologist said that aftershocks are expected to occur.
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