At least 36 injured in magnitude 6.4 earthquake in the Philippines
Manila, Oct 26 (EFE).- At least 36 people were injured in a magnitude 6.4 earthquake that hit the northern Philippines overnight, local emergency services in the affected provinces told EFE Wednesday.
The earthquake struck the provinces of Abra and Ilocos Norte, and its epicenter was located some 320 kilometers (around 200 miles) north of Manila.
No deaths have been reported so far.
At least 26 people were injured in Ilocos Norte province, and some 200 people were evacuated from Mariano Marcos Hospital in Batac city because of a serious damage to the building during the earthquake.
The Laoag International Airport in Ilocos Norte remained closed on Wednesday due to the damage suffered in the tremor, workers from the aerodrome confirmed to EFE.
Moreover, 10 people were injured in the province of Abra, and more than 20 roads have been damaged by the earthquake.
Abra and Ilocos Norte were also the provinces most affected by another earthquake around the end of July, which left at least 10 people dead and caused significant material damage in more than 30 cities, including historic buildings in the city of Vigan.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), which records seismic activity throughout the world, placed the earthquake at a depth of 15 kilometers and about 12 kilometers east of the town of Dolores, with a population of about 32,500.
The earthquake, which was recorded around 11pm, was followed by numerous smaller aftershocks that occurred throughout the night and Wednesday morning.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said at a press conference that there would be no shortage of food or shelter for those affected by the earthquake, and encouraged the people of the affected provinces to move away from the tall buildings.
The Philippines sits on the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire,” an area that accounts for about 90 percent of the world’s seismic and volcanic activity, and records by some 7,000 tremors a year, most of them moderate. EFE
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