At least three people have been killed after a 6.5-magnitude earthquake hit Mindanao this morning, hot on the heels of two strong earthquakes that rocked the island earlier this month.
All of the dead were residents of Makilala town in Cotabato, GMA News Online reports. The government, meanwhile, still hasn’t determined the exact number of people injured in today’s quake.
Maimai Balmediano, information officer of Office of Civil Defense 12, said, “We’re still waiting for the report. Only one person has been recorded as wounded because [rescue] operations are still ongoing. We are waiting for the number of injured.”
While the government is still struggling to determine the number of injured, Rappler reported that nine people were hurt when the quake damaged Ecoland 4000, a condominium in Davao City. The police estimated that there were at least 15 people inside the building when the quake struck, and they are currently checking if there are still people trapped inside.
Meanwhile, seven people were rescued from Eva’s Hotel, one of the tallest hotels in Kidapawan City, after its facade was destroyed by this morning’s quake. The damage led city officials to declare the hotel unfit for occupancy, Mindanews reports.
Today’s earthquake struck at 9:11am and was tectonic in origin, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. Its epicenter was Tulunan, a town in Cotabato, which was also the source of the earthquake that struck on Tuesday. Experts said that today’s quake was a separate incident, not an aftershock of the first two huge quakes earlier this month.
LOOK: President Duterte’s house in Davao City sustained cracks on the walls due to #MindanaoQuake (📷 Sen. Bong Go) @ABSCBNNews pic.twitter.com/8rOD2jsqU0
— Arianne Merez (@arianne_merez) October 31, 2019
President Rodrigo Duterte was in Davao City when the earthquake struck, according to his former assistant, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go. The lawmaker said the president is safe, but his home sustained cracks from the quake, according to ABS-CBN News.
Despite the devastation, Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo said the president does not plan to visit earthquake-hit areas, because he believes that the local government “has effectively responded to the current critical situation,” The Philippine Daily Inquirer reports.
