Caraga region still reels from tremors
TANDAG CITY, SURIGAO DEL SUR—As people in the Davao region slowly recovers from the devastating impact of magnitudes 7.4 and 6.8 doublet earthquakes in Davao Oriental last Oct. 10, people in the Caraga region still grappled with the scare from tremors.
Amid the continued shaking due to the series of aftershocks that struck Manay town in Davao Oriental, the epicenter of the Oct. 10 doublet quakes, in just over a day, a magnitude 6 tremor hit Cagwait town in Surigao del Sur province at 10:32 p.m. on Oct. 11.
This series of tremors had led to a suspension of classes in most parts of the region as engineers and building officials assess the safety of school structures and facilities.
The state-run Adela Serra Ty Memorial Medical Center, a 500-bed Level 2 hospital here, evacuated patients and temporarily sheltered them on tents pending a thorough evaluation of the integrity of its buildings.
The hospital resumed to its normal flow on Thursday, almost in time for the resumption of classes in most schools of the region.
But on Friday, another magnitude 6 earthquake jolted much of the region.
The quake occurred at 7:03 a.m. and was traced some 13 kilometers southeast of General Luna, a town in touristy Siargao Island of Surigao del Norte. It had a depth of 10 kilometers.
Immediately, General Luna Mayor Johnson Sajulga ordered the suspension of classes in all levels and work in government offices as a precautionary measure. He also ordered the evacuation of residents in coastal communities although there was no tsunami alert raised by state seismologists.
No surfing for now
Surigao del Norte Gov. Robert Lyndon Barbers had also ordered the suspension of water activities on Siargao Island, such as surfing and island hopping until authorities deem it safe.
As of Friday afternoon, the General Luna local government and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) had distributed some 750 family food packs to those temporarily displaced by the precautionary measures.
According to Department of Education (DepEd) Caraga regional director Maria Ines Asuncion, classes in both public and private schools across the provinces of Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, and Dinagat Islands were suspended on Friday following the earthquake in General Luna, which triggered another rounds of safety assessments of school buildings and facilities.
The suspension was implemented under local declaration per school, in line with the DepEd Caraga Memorandum Circular issued on the same day that authorized school heads to suspend classes based on their local situation and safety assessments.
DepEd had urged school heads to conduct safety assessments of school facilities and implement necessary precautionary measures before resuming in-person classes or office operations.
Asuncion also enforced a work-from-home arrangement for all its personnel on Friday as a precautionary measure.
The North Eastern Mindanao State University (Nemsu), which maintains campuses in the towns of Cantilan, San Miguel Cagwait, Lianga and Tagbina, and in Tandag City, is yet to recover from the impacts of the Davao earthquakes.
Due to some structural issues, some of its facilities cannot be used when students return to in-person classes on Oct. 20. Nemsu had resorted to hybrid learning modalities since Oct. 15 after a two-day “academic freeze” on Oct. 13 to Oct. 14 as a result of the Manay tremors.
The Caraga State University, which has a main campus in Butuan City, to resume on-campus classes also on Oct. 20. —WITH A REPORT FROM CHRIS V. PANGANIBAN
