The reported death toll from the Cebu earthquake has dropped to 68 from the initial tally of 72 due to ‘double entry’, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s (NDRRMC) reported Friday.
The Office of Civil Defense, the implementing arm of the NDRRMC, clarified that the earlier report came from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office of Cebu, while the latest figures are from the Management of the Dead and Missing (MDM) cluster.
‘It’s a matter of double entry,’ OCD-VII Regional Director Joel Erestain said in a statement sent to reporters.
Erestain said, ‘adjustment is being made once names and other documents are submitted to the activated MDM cluster.’
OCD deputy spokesperson Diego Mariano said the MDM, will now serve as the standard source for casualty figures.
‘The numbers may increase or decrease as validation by the MDM is ongoing,’ Mariano told reporters.
All 68 reported deaths have death certificates already, according to Mariano.
However, Erestain said official police spot reports and death certificates are not complete yet.
‘Hence this total number is still for verification and validation,’ Erestain said.
Meanwhile, the reported 599 injuries, are still subject to validation, while the agency has not reported any missing individuals as of Friday.
Thousands of houses, buildings damaged
Total infrastructure damage has yet to be fully documented, but thousands of homes and public buildings were destroyed by the earthquake.
So far, 5,013 houses were damaged, of which 4,355 were partially damaged and 658 were destroyed.
The magnitude 6.9 earthquake affected 366,360 people in the region, with only 1,795 currently staying in evacuation centers.
The quake struck at 9:59 p.m. on Tuesday, with its epicenter located 21 kilometers northeast of Bogo City, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
More aftershocks
Phivolcs has continued to record aftershocks, which it says may persist for weeks.
As of 8:00 a.m. on Friday, state seismologists reported 3,952 aftershocks, ranging from magnitude 1 to 5.1.
Located on the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire,’ where tectonic plates frequently collide, the Philippines experiences regular earthquakes and volcanic activity./mcm