The death toll for the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck central Philippines has risen to 93, as reports of more collapsed buildings and infrastructures are reported.
The earthquake struck shortly after 8 in the morning, the epicenter located 20 miles below the town of Carmen in Bohol Island, causing roads to crack open and buildings to collapse. Dennis Agustin, polife chief of Bohol has said that 69 of the deaths were from the surrounding provinces around Carmen, while at least 16 others have been reported as casualties in the nearby islands of Cebu and Siquijor.
Several deaths in Cebu had been attributed to the collapse of a multi-purpose gym area where several people had been gathered. The ensuing stampede contributed to the casualties.
People in the island nation had, along with being distraught over the calamity and loss of life, expressed a collective dismay over the loss of some centuries-old historical buildings...some being at least 400 years old. The central Philippines, particularly Cebu, had been the first islands in the Philippines to be settled, and most of the buildings that had been built from that time, which until now had been carefully preserved, are now in ruins.
Among other buildings affected by the earthquake were a shopping mall, a commercial center, a major hospital, and a public market.
Several survivors report particularly strong aftershocks by the minute, but have been saying that had the earthquake occurred on a Sunday, when most of the population would have been in several of the now-collapsed churches, there would have been more deaths.
Survivors and observers have also noted that lives had been spared because Tuesday had been a national holiday in celebration of the Eidl al Adha, a Muslim holiday, leaving schools and offices empty. Considering the timing, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology, Renato Solidum, has stated that an earthquake of that magnitude packed as much energy as 32 atomic bombs.
Central Philippines has now been placed under a state of calamity; however a tsunami warning has not been raised, as a tsunami would have required a large area of empty ocean to gain momentum, and the Philippine seas, populated by hundreds of scattered islands, would have prevented a tsunami from forming.
© 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
