net WEDNESDAY Aprit 24, 201e

Classes were suspended in

many schools in Metro Manila
and neighboring areas to allow
building inspections. Gowmment
offices in quake-affected areas
were ordered closed.

o IN 5 P I cr o N t presirent Rodligo and senat€ (andidate (hristopt ta*r.*. ,rong, eo i

4s+otttJe N€ukt' talk to offidah aftertheir yisit to earthquake-hit 'ut€rte
pora<, pampanga on ruesday.
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IDEATH FROM A1
Quake
death toll
nses
as new
Fresh quak6
\ strong earthquake at magnitude
I across the mostly rural region to
5.5 shook Samar lsland at 1:37
p.m. on Tuesday, with the ePicen- i assess damage in isolated hamlets
ter in San Julian, Eastern Samar.
The Philippine lnstitute of
Volcanology and SelsmologY said
the strong tremor was aho felt in
Northern Samar, Westem Samar
and Tacloban City at int€nsity 5;
and in Masbate, tegazpi CitY in
Albay and Sonogon at intensity 4.
San Julian experienced four
lftershocks after the stong quake.
The latest quake sent tenified
locals fleeing into the streetg with
images on social media showing
:racked roads, crumbling church
walls and shattered glass.
"No one started crying, but of
counie some panicked because it
was really strong," said Rey Estrobo,
a supeMsor at a hotel in Borongn
towrr nearthe epicenter ofsan Iulian.
"Wdre still getting hit with af-
tershocks, even as we speak," he
told Agence Fnnce-Presse (AFP).
Toll could rise
The toll from the Luzon quake
could rise as crews fanned out
i
that lost power and communica-
tions in one ofthe area's strongest
tremors in years.
Scores of rescuers in Porac were
using cranes and jackhammers to
peel back the pancaked concrete
sfucturc of Chuzon SuPermarket
where the Red Cross said 24 people
were unaccounted for.
"Every minute, every second is
critical in this rescue" Cris Palcis, a
volunteer rescue dog handler, told
AFP "Time is short for the people
under the rubble, so we have to
be quick."
Pampanga Gov Lilia Pineda told
journalists that rescuers could still
hear at least one Person UaPPed
beneath the rubble but the digging
was proceeding delicately to avoid
accidentally crushing the suwivor
The NDRRMC, on blue alert
statirs since Monday, rePorted
that 29 structures and buildings
sustained damage following the
$rong quake.
Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo, mil-
itary spokesman, said responders
from the Philippine ArmY and
the Bureau of Fire Prot€ction
rescued nine persons stuck in the
collapsed supermarket.
A report from the Zambales
Provincial Disaster Risk Re-
duction and Management Of-
fice said Waring Serano, 6, a
resident of Barangay Buhawen,
suffered massive irljuries after
being hit by falling rgcks during
a landslide.
Public Works Secretary Mark
Villar said there was "quite a big
ddmage" on Pampanga roads,
ahountingto about P200 million.
In neighboring Bulacan prov-
ince, roads were passable and no
major damage was reported.
' President Rodrigo Dutertg who
attended a briefing in Porac, sus-
pended the operations ofall Chu-
zon branches.
'Really swaying'
The quake also damaged several
centuries-old .churches, which
were crowded with worshippers
in recent days as the majodty-
^ +ls4ourtg
Catholic Philippines marked the
Easter holiday.
Fr. Roland Moraleia, who is based
in Porac, said the 1 8th-centuy belftY
of the St Catherine of Alexandria
Church collapsed in the quake.
High+ise buildings in the caPi-
tal swayed after the tremor struck
Monday evening, leaving some
with large cracks in their walls.
Thousands of travelers were
stnnded after aviation authorities
shut down the secondarY Clark
Airport, which is located on the
site of the formel US military in-
stallation that lies about an hour's
drive north ofthe capital.
It was still closed on TuesdaY as
officials assessed the heavY dam-
age to the terminal building and
some cracking on the air taffic
.ontrol tower.
Philippine Airlines (PAL)
grounded one international and
47 domestic flights to and from
Clark on April 23. PAL canceled
one international flight and 45
domestic flights scheduled for
April 24 at Clark A@ort.
Cebu Pacific cancel€d at least
Nerlr o C""l
four flights from Clark (two do-
mestic and two international) on
Tuesday. Five international and
eight domestic flights to and fiom
Clark scheduled on Ap riI 24 were
also cancelled.
State of calamity
The quake was centered on the
town of Castilleios, about 100
kilomeiers (62 miles) northwest
of Manila, local geologists said.
Seismologists put Monday's
tremor at 6.3 initially, but sub-
sequently downgraded it to a
6.1 magnitude.
The Philippines is part of the
Pacific 'Ring of Fire," an arc
of intense seismic activity that
str€tches from quake-Prone fa-
pan through Southeast Asia and
across the Pacific basin.
House Speaker Gloria Maca-
pagal Arroyo recommended a
state of calamity be declared
in Pampanga.
'The priority is to complet€
the rescue that is haPPening
and then we have to take care
of those who have been res-
have to attend to theit
cued, we
medical needs. Those who havt
died, we have to attend to theii
funeral requirements. "l'hose
whose houses were destroyed
and who had to flee the earthl
quake, they have to be fed. So1
we are in the rescUe and rcliel
stage right now" Arroyo told
reporters on the sidelines of th-e
Boao Forum in Tasuis Cily or
Tuesday before retritnin gi%' t'"i
home province later in the daf]
Sen. Joseph Victor 'JV' Eiercitol
chairman of the Senate Healtl
Committee, said: "ln the wakq
of the strong earthquake that hiJ
Luzon, I urge both national anq
local government authoritic$ t(
immediately conduct compreheni
sive inspections of all building{
and vital inftastructure in or(lcr t(
ensure that they are safe.n i
WTH DEMPSEY REVES
ELADIO PERFECTq
PATR]CK ROXAs
GLEE JAtEA, BENJII
L. VERGARA, CATHERINE A
MODESTO ANI
FREDERICK SILVERI(
I