At least 45 people from Davao City were evacuated to a temporary treatment and monitoring facility for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients after a magnitude-6.1 earthquake rocked Magsaysay, Davao del Sur on Sunday, sending dozens of residents fleeing from their homes.
In an assessment report Monday, February 8, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said the evacuees were temporarily sheltered in a COVID-19 facility at the University of the Philippines (UP) Mindanao Faculty and Staff Housing in Davao City.
No other details were revealed as to the condition of the evacuees or if there were any patient at the COVID-19 facility.
However, authorities assured that the minimum health standards were observed by the evacuees.
At least 15 persons from North Cotabato were also hurt while 24 houses were damaged due to the quake.
Three houses were totally destroyed while 21 others were partially damaged in the towns of Ml'lang and Kabacan in North Cotabato, and in Bansalan, Davao del Sur.
The quake also damaged a university gym, a COVID-19 treatment center, and a barangay hall in Davao City as well as two churches in M'lang town, a hospital in Sultan Kudarat, and two private establishments in Kabacan town.
Several patients at the Kidapawan Medical Specialist, Madonna Medical Center, and Kidapawan Doctors Hospital Inc. in Kidapawan City had to be taken out of the hospital buildings due to the quake.
They were temporarily evacuated to a nearby center as authorities conducted an assessment on the buildings.
The patients and staff returned to the hospitals on the same day of the quake after the assessment, according to the NDRRMC.
The epicenter of the earthquake was located at five kilometers southwest of Magsaysay town at 12:22 p.m. , according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs). It had a depth of 15 kilometers.
It occured hours after a magnitude-4.8 quake also hit the same area around 7 a.m. on the same day.