Officials immediately canceled classes in all schools in Central Mindanao after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake jolted provinces and cities across southern Mindanao on Friday morning, October 10.
Emergency responders from the office of Kidapawan City Mayor Jose Paolo Evangelista promptly transported more than 30 students from the Kidapawan City National High School and nearby campuses to hospitals due to dizziness and other discomfort following the tremor, which caused widespread panic among residents.
Kidapawan City, which has more than 40 barangays, is the capital of Cotabato province in Region 12 – more than a hundred kilometers north of Cotabato City, the seat of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) – where the earthquake was also felt.
‘Our engineers reported that there were no damages to school buildings in our city. We are monitoring the condition of the patients in all hospitals here, too,’ Evangelista said, as he went around school campuses in Kidapawan City.
Evangelista and Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao both suspended classes in all barangays under their local government units.
Friday morning’s earthquake, whose epicenter was traced to Manay town in Davao Oriental, shook cities and towns in Mindanao’s adjoining Regions 10, 11, 12 and 13.
Rescue teams from the Cotabato City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and emergency responders from the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region have been on standby, anticipating possible aftershocks.
The quake was also felt in the Bangsamoro region’s adjoining Maguindanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Norte provinces in Central Mindanao.