In anticipation of possible aftershocks, Ilocos Norte Provincial Administrator Yvette Leynes said work at the local government was suspended and all capitol employees have been advised to work from home Wednesday after the province was rattled by an Intensity 5 earthquake.
“Pending the structure assessment of the Capitol, we have requested the governor to allow our employees to work from home today to check our homes and families too,” Leynes said as employees rushed out of the capitol building after they felt the ground shaking for several minutes.
In Batac City, Mayor Albert Chua issued Executive Order 2022-015 suspending classes and work, both in the public and private sectors, Wednesday.
All offices and departments involved in providing critical emergency services will maintain a skeleton workforce.
In Badoc, the Bureau of Fire and Protection reported some fallen bricks from several old structures, including the St. Elizabeth Elementary School, and cracks at the public market.
Emile Kathleen Aguilar, a teacher at the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU), posted in her Facebook account Wednesday that one student had a panic attack during the temblor, one of the strongest and longest felt so far by residents here.
“She was terribly shaking. I so felt it,” Aguilar said, adding that she also cried while the earthquake was happening.
"I held on tight to my coworker. I was the first to run out from our dean’s office. I felt the buildings would collapse. My instinct (would kick in) every time, I would even leave my students when shakings happen during class hours,” said Aguilar as she shared her trauma from past earthquakes, especially since she is one of the survivors of the magnitude-7.7 earthquake that hit Luzon in 1990.
With her makeup already on, Airish Oracion, a nursing student of MMSU, took to social media to post her photo with her family after their scheduled pinning and capping ceremony at the Teatro Ilocandia Wednesday afternoon was cancelled as a result of the earthquake.