Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto on Wednesday, Oct. 1, said that the local government will extend support to Cebu following the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that devastated several towns in the province, killing at least 72 people and causing injuries to more than 140 on Tuesday night, Sept. 30.
Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto
Sotto said the local government will mobilize five teams to help in areas heavily affected by the earthquake, including a search and rescue team, a Mass Disaster Management (MDM) team, medical teams for immediate health response, a psychosocial first aid team, and infrastructure audit teams to assess structural safety.
He also said the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (DRRMC) will convene on Thursday, Oct. 2, to approve financial assistance for LGUs that are under a state of calamity.
On Wednesday, President Marcos had already ordered the full mobilization of government agencies to assist communities affected by the disaster.
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) conducted full-scale disaster response operations on Tuesday night, with search and rescue (SAR) operations concentrating in Bogo City, the hardest-hit area.
The quake occurred at 9:59 p.m. with its epicenter traced 17 kilometers northeast of Bogo City. It had a depth of focus of 10 kilometers and was tectonic in origin.
The earthquake trapped an unspecified number of residents in collapsed houses, nightclubs, and other businesses in Bogo and outlying rural towns in Cebu province.
Rescuers scrambled to find survivors on Wednesday. Army troops, police, and civilian volunteers backed by backhoes and sniffer dogs were deployed Wednesday to carry out house-to-house searches for survivors.
The death toll in Bogo was expected to rise, according to officials, who said intermittent rain and damaged bridges and roads were hampering the race to save lives.