MANILA — Over 125,000 families were affected by the “doublet earthquake” that struck Davao Oriental Friday last week, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Sunday.
The NDRRMC said a total of 125,283 families or 491,258 people were affected. Of this figure, 1,939 families or 8,440 persons were served inside 14 evacuation centers (ECs) while 52 families or 192 individuals were served outside ECs.
The NDRRMC also noted that of this figure, 66,366 families or 280,868 individuals came from the Davao Region while 58,917 families or 210,390 were from Caraga Region.
Aside from this, the agency reported that eight fatalities and 100 injuries were up for validation. Meanwhile, 295 injuries have already been validated.
The earthquakes also damaged a total of 2,155 houses in Davao Region and Caraga Region. The agency estimated P100,258,000 cost from 273 damaged infrastructures in both regions.
A total of P26,502,565.88 worth of assistance had been provided to a total of 70676 families from both regions.
Meanwhile, in a press conference on Saturday, Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian assured the affected residents of assistance such as food packs and temporary shelters.
Gatchalian said that the agency has more than 100,000 boxes of family food packs across various warehouses in Davao Region. Aside from this, he added that he discussed with Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon the establishment of temporary shelters in affected areas.
“He coordinated with the Philippine Red Cross and the agency and Red Cross will help in building temporary shelters for the families whose houses were damaged and are in need of temporary shelters,” Gatchalian said.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) previously said that the magnitude 7.4 and 6.8 earthquakes that struck off Davao Oriental may be considered a “doublet earthquake.”
Phivolcs explained that a “doublet earthquake” refers to distinct or different earthquakes that occurred in almost the same area “with two (or more) main shocks that have slight difference in magnitude.”
The epicenter of the magnitude 7.4 earthquake was located 62 kilometers southeast of Manay in Davao Oriental at 9:43 a.m. while the magnitude 6.9 earthquake was traced 36 kilometers southeast of the same town at 7:12 p.m. last Friday. (Dianne Sampang © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
