Some of them were reminded by a temblor of almost similar strength that rocked a large part of Northern and Central Luzon on July 16, 1990.
“I thought I was having a heart attack while tending to my vegetables and fish,” Dr. Westly Rosario, former interim executive director, National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, said. He felt dizzy and later on realized there was an earthquake.
He tried to calm himself while standing but when he heard tsunami splashes in his fish tanks, he was sure that an earthquake had struck.
“It took a while before I got my cellphone and documented everything,” he said in his Facebook page.
The Central Pangasinan Electric Cooperative (Cenpelco) announced that at least 14 towns and one city experienced a power interruption due to the auto shutdown of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines when a temblor hits.
Affected were San Carlos City, Mangaldan, Lingayen, Bugallon, Labrador, Sual, Bayambang, Malasiqui, Binmaley, Mangatarem, Aguilar, Basista, Urbiztondo, Alcala, and Bautista.
At least 244,000 active billed consumers were affected by the unscheduled power interruption.
“Pero bumalik naman in 15 to 20 minutes iyong iba and no power as of this time Bayambang, Basista ,Malasiqui and Bautista (Power was restored in 15 to minutes in some areas. Bayambang, Basista, Malasiqui, and Bautista has no power as of now),” Rizalinda Reyes, Cenpelco member service department manager, said.
In Santo Tomas, Pangasinan, local government employees took cover during the earthquake like what they were trained to do when it strikes.
“Ito ang isinagawa ng mga kawani ng lokal na pamahalaan ng Santo Tomas, Pangasinan sa naranasang pag lindol ngayong araw July 27, 2022 (LGU employees tokk cover like what they were trained to do in case of an earthquake like what happened today, July 27, 2022),” the LGU said.
According to the LGU, they have been regularly conducting earthquake drills that started under the leadership of former Mayor now Vice Mayor Timoteo "Dick" S. Villar III, together with Mayor Dickerson Dauz Villar and officials of town with the local disaster unit.