Minor damages noted after magnitude 6.1 quake rocks Batangas
Several public buildings in Calatagan, Batangas sustained minor cracks after a magnitude 6.1 earthquake hit on Sunday morning, May 22.
Ronald Torres, chief of Calatagan municipal disaster risk reduction and management office (MDRRMO), said cracks were noted at the Calatagan Municipal Hall during an assessment of their team.
“In public buildings like the municipal building, we have identified minor cracks but they are not that significant,” Torres said in Filipino in a radio interview over dzBB.
Several public schools, two-storey classroom buildings, and other high-rise structures were also inspected by the Calatagan MDRRMO for possible damages.
“Thankfully, we have not identified major cracks in these structures, only minor ones. We are also checking if some of the cracks that we have noted were sustained in previous earthquakes,” Torres said.
According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), the earthquake struck at 21 kilometers northwest of Calatagan at 5:05 a.m.
The tremor was tectonic in origin and had a depth of 122 kilometers.
“There were several aftershocks that were recorded by Phivolcs but most of them were not strong enough to be felt by the residents. The center of the earthquake was really deep,” Torres said.
Intensity IV was felt in Calatagan while Intensity III was recorded in Quezon City; Pasay City; Pasig City; Tagaytay City; Mendez, Amadeo, and Alfonso in Cavite; and Obando, Bulacan. Intensity II, on the other hand, was noted in Abucay, Bataan; Gapan City, Nueva Ecija; Castillejos, Zambales; Mandaluyong City; City of Manila; Makati City; and Tanay, Rizal.