A total of 14 buildings in General Santos City collapsed or were severely damaged due to the magnitude 7.8 offshore earthquake that hit Southern Mindanao, the Bureau of Fire Protection reported.
This strong earthquake continues to grip Southern Mindanao, making the search and rescue operation dangerous.
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reported that the death toll has risen to 37; 479 injured and 4 still missing as of this writing.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported that as of 8 a.m. on June 9, a total of 1,100 aftershocks were recorded at the agency’s monitoring stations in General Santos City and Davao City.
The earthquakes’ magnitude ranged from 1.3 to 6.7.
Of the recorded earthquakes, 313 were plotted, and 23 were felt.
OCD has earlier urged the public not to return or avoid re-entering buildings and houses that may have been structurally damaged.
The BFP Central Office said BFP Regions 11 and 12 are now under ‘Code Red,’ with firefighters’ search-and-rescue teams deployed to conduct rapid damage assessments in the affected areas.
The Collapsed Structure Search and Rescue Teams have so far rescued 12 persons during their operation in some of the collapsed structures in General Santos City.
Search and rescue operations are ongoing at Savemore and CPAVI Warehouse Calumpang, both in General Santos City, the BFP said.
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) earlier reported that the death toll has reached 37, with 144 injured and 4 missing.