By Brian Campued
The reported deaths following the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck offshore Sarangani on June 8 have climbed to 45, according to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).
In a video report posted Wednesday noon, OCD Officer-in-Charge and Deputy Administrator for Administration Asec. Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said there were also 630 reported injured and 17 missing.
Most of the reported casualties, while still under validation, came from General Santos City, Davao Occidental, and Sarangani.
A total of 35,673 families across 199 barangays in Zamboanga Peninsula, Davao Region, SOCCSKSARGEN, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao were affected by the earthquake.
Of these, Alejandro said 6,314 families or 24,228 persons are being assisted inside 45 evacuation centers, while 1,815 families are being served outside the evacuation centers.
A total of 3,773 combined personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Bureau of Fire Protection, and the Philippine National Police have been deployed to conduct search, rescue, and retrieval operations in affected areas.
“Meron pa pong naka-standby na halos 2,523 at kasama na dyan yung 975 assets na naka-ready for deployment,” he said.
Rapid damage and needs assessment is also ongoing to verify the structural integrity of roads, bridges, seaports, and airports in earthquake-hit areas.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has likewise deployed 34 major assets and around 485 personnel to conduct debris clearing and civil works with local government units (LGUs).
The AFP, PCG, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) are also working to ensure unhampered delivery of relief.
“In terms of humanitarian assistance and disaster response naman, ang ating logistics cluster ay nag-deploy na po ng 21 major assets—7 aircrafts and 14 land assets na nanggagaling po sa ating AFP and Coast Guard and DSWD. At meron pa pong naka-standby na halos 388 various assets na pwedeng i-deploy at mag-assist doon sa mga affected areas,” Alejandro said.
He added that around P4.8 million worth of food and non-food items have also been provided to affected communities, while around 21.3 million relief supplies are already prepositioned and ready for deployment to augment the needs of disaster-hit families.
“In terms of health po, P70.2 million worth of health commodities are available from DOH (Department of Health) at handang-handa po at ready pong mag-deploy ang ating DOH,” he said.
In terms of damages, around P562.8 million worth of damage to infrastructure was reported from Davao Region and SOCCSKSARGEN, while 2,641 were classified as partially damaged houses and 528 were totally damaged.
Alejandro assured that the whole-of-government approach will continue until affected communities recover from the deadly earthquake.
“Tuloy-tuloy po ang aming pagreresponde. Ang ating Pangulo ay nasa area ngayon to personally assess the situation and provide guidance and help doon sa mga nangangailangan,” he said.
“Lahat po ng ating mga Cabinet members, lahat ng mga major agencies involved in response are now on the ground and proactively and actively participating in our response operations.”
As of 8:00 a.m. on June 10, a total of 2,067 aftershocks were recorded following the 7.8-magnitude earthquake on Monday.
According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), 538 of the aftershocks have been located, while 48 were felt by residents in affected areas.
The strength of the recorded aftershocks ranged from magnitude 1.2 to 6.4.
-jpv
