A magnitude 5.2 earthquake hit Abra at 2:48 a.m. on Monday, five days after it was hit by a deadly 7.0-magnitude quake last Wednesday that damaged structures in the region and killed at least 10 people.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the tremor’s epicenter was three kilometers from Villaviciosa town at a depth of 22 km.
The following intensities were felt in Abra and nearby provinces: Intensity V – Bantay, Ilocos Sur; Intensity IV – Bangued, Abra; and Intensity III – Baguio City.
Instrumental Intensities were: Intensity V – Vigan City, Ilocos Sur; Intensity IV – Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte; Intensity III – Laoag City, Ilocos Norte; Sinait, Ilocos Sur; Intensity II – Tabuk, Kalinga; Claveria and Penablanca, Cagayan; and Intensity I – Baguio City; Dagupan City, Pangasinan; Ilagan, Isabela.
Phivolcs said it expects damage and aftershocks from the quake.
The number of individuals affected by the magnitude 7 earthquake is now at 381,614, the state disaster response agency said Monday.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, this translated to 100,665 families. Of the tally, some 3,781 individuals or 1,070 families are staying in evacuation camps.
In its latest report, the NDRRMC also said the number of fatalities remained at 10 while those injured have reached 394.
Damage to infrastructures such as roads, bridges, health facilities, schools, and cultural heritages in Cagayan Valley, Cordillera Administrative Region, and Ilocos Region was pegged at P704 million.
According to the NDRRMC, some 354 houses were destroyed by the major tremor while 24,547 were damaged.
Meanwhile, power in 48 cities and municipalities has been restored. Water service is also back in three out of four cities and municipalities.
The NDRRMC said 27 cities and municipalities were declared under a state of calamity. So far, assistance worth P25 million has been provided to victims of the earthquake.
As of 10 a.m. Monday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology recorded 2,042 aftershocks, ranging from magnitude 1.4 to 5.1.
Phivolcs earlier warned that aftershocks may occur for several days and even up to weeks.
Some 177 health facilities were affected or damaged by the earthquake that hit Abra last Wednesday, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.
In a CNN Philippines interview, DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said these facilities consist of hospitals, rural health
units, barangay health stations, and city and municipality health offices.
“The one that is really badly affected is the Abra Provincial Hospital. We were able to go to this hospital easily and we were able to set up tents and deploy equipment for them,” she said.
Vergeire said that a Philippine Medical Emergency team composed of specialists from various government hospitals is already assisting the said hospital so there would be no disruption of medical services.
“We will continue to monitor them. We are going to go around these damaged facilities so that we can see how we can be able to assist, and so that repairs can be made in the facilities so they can be used again. Although they are functional, we need to restructure them and ensure that they are safe for our patients,” Vergeire added.
DOH alternate spokesperson Undersecretary Beverly Ho earlier said that they have sent trucks carrying 20 tents, 200 cot beds, hygiene kits,
medicines, and other supplies to affected areas by the earthquake.
