Work, classes suspended in Davao de Oro

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 7 March)—The provincial government of Davao de Oro suspended classes anew, and this time including work, following the magnitude 5.9 (earlier reported by PHIVOLCS as magnitude 6.2) earthquake that hit the area at 2:02 p.m. Tuesday.

_{Patients and health personnel were evacuated from the Davao de Oro Provincial Hospital building in the municipality of Montevista. Photo from the Facebook page of Montevista LGU}

The day before, Governor Dorothy Montejo-Gonzaga also suspended face-to-face classes in all levels because of a series of earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.9 to 5.3.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, in its earthquake information No. 1, reported that the epicenter was at the coordinates 07.43°N, 126.09°E, or somewhere in the boundary between the municipalities of New Bataan and Maragusan, both in Davao de Oro.

PHIVOLCS corrected the epicenter’s location in its earthquake information No. 2, now at 07.50°N, 126.20°E, about 8 kms southeast from the poblacion area.

The quake of tectonic origin had a depth of focus of 10 kms as indicated in PHIVOLCS’s second dispatch, against the 34 kms the agency reported earlier.

In the series of earthquakes on Monday, a portion of the Maragusan-New Bataan road caved in, according to the municipal government of Maragusan.

_{A portion of the Maragusan-New Bataan road that caved in. Photo from the Facebook page of Maragusan LGU}

The latest PHIVOLCS report said that Intensity V was recorded in Maco, Maragusan, Nabunturan, New Bataan, and Pantukan in Davao de Oro; Intensity IV in Monkayo in Davao de Oro, Tagum City in Davao del Norte, and Bislig City in Surigao del Sur; and Intensity III in Davao City, Santa Cruz in Davao del Sur, and Mati City in Davao Oriental.

PHIVOLCS has recorded a total of 11 aftershocks in the area as of 4:01 p.m. Tuesday, with magnitudes ranging from 1.8 to 2.7. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)