The northernmost province of the
Philippines, Batanes, has long been known as a punching bag for the Pacific
typhoon season, and at worse a disaster magnet. That is not entirely true when
strictly scientifically speaking, but the inhabitants did leave lasting
reminders reminds of how they needed defense against extremes of the weather
with their heritage Stone Houses. But the Batanes islands have more than just
the possibility of a typhoon visit to worry about. Case in point, this past
weekend the province was struck by a series of powerful quakes that killed some
and injured many, plus damaged structures.
The Philippine Star reports that Batanes was victim to a
combination of earthquakes early on Saturday, July 27, one significant
foreshock and the follow-up main tremor. Respectively the quakes were measured
at magnitudes 5.4 and then 5.9, both of relatively shallow depths close to the
Batanes island municipality of Itbayat. According to the Philippine Institute
of Volcanology and Seismology the earthquakes were tectonic in nature, and were
felt at an Intensity VII in Itbayat itself while the other municipalities of
the province recorded lesser Intensities from VI to IV. Closer to the epicenter
the tremor would have had a maximum Intensity of VIII according to the United
States Geological Survey.
In the most recent estimates the Batanes
Provinicial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council have recorded nine
fatalities as told to Inquirer.net,
while Batanes Governor Marilou Cayco tells ABS-CBN
News that over 100 people have been injured. And while the old Stone
structures that the province is famous for could theoretically withstand storms
and typhoons, many were no match against the shaking of the ground. Hard-hit
was Itbayat’s Santa Maria de Mayan church, built in the 19th Century
out of limestone, the bell tower of which was shaken to cracking by the foreshock
and finally topped by the main quake.
Due to structural safety concerns
all inhabitants of Itbayat were advised not to enter their homes following the
primary tremors and aftershocks, with over 2,000 residents of the island
municipality assembled at the town plaza. Among the other affected buildings
were the one-story Itbayat District Hospital, which spurred evacuation of the
patients to a nearby roofed basketball court that withstood the shaking.
Another stroke of good fortune was the undamaged state of the Itbayat Airport,
allowing the immediate transport of medical personnel and army troops to aid in
relief efforts.
Governor Cayco notes that she is
considering the declaration of a state of calamity as soon as she decides that
the death, injury and damage tolls have reached a critical level. President
Rodrigo Duterte also travelled to Batanes to personally oversee the situation
close hand.
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