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Batangas quake damages Taal Basilica; residents fear aftershocks


The magnitude 5.5 earthquake that struck Tingloy, Batangas at 8:58 p.m. on Tuesday caused damage to a historic building and forced fearful residents to sleep in tents, a report on Unang Balita on Wednesday said.

In Taal, Batangas, stones were chipped off the facade of the Taal Basilica (Minor Basilica of Saint Martin of Tours), regarded as Asia's biggest Catholic Church, GMA News' Vonne Aquino reported.

 

 

Authorities closed the main entrance to the church and only kept the side entrances open.

In spite of the damage, a Mass was held at 6 a.m. Wednesday attended by a handful of parishioners.

Msgr. Alfredo Madlangbayan, parish priest, said they will ask the National Commission for Culture and the Arts to check the basilica for damage.

The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) also said it will ask city engineers to inspect the basilica.

The church was first built in 1755 and was damaged in 1849 due to an earthquake. 

The PDRRMO said that so far, no one was reported injured in the earthquake.

Aftershocks

More than 30 aftershocks have been recorded since the quake struck. The strongest aftershock recorded so far measured at magnitude 4.9.

Some patients confined at the Batangas Medical Center in Batangas City, meanwhile, spent the night in tents pitched outside the hospital as they were afraid of possible injury from aftershocks.

Cracks were seen at the hospital's pediatric ward, OB Gyne ward, and post anesthesia care unit at the Old Station 1 Building.

The critically ill patients were given priority in the tents.

The hospital's health manager said the city engineer has already checked the building.

The Code Blue alert has been raised at the hospital, meaning, all employees are required to go on duty to attend to patients.

At the Provincial Capitol, residents laid down beddings on the flat ground, hoping to sleep well.

Some people chose to sleep inside tricycles or cars.

They said it would be better to be outside should aftershocks occur one after the other.

In Alitagtag, items from grocery shelves were seen strewn on the floor after the earthquake.

 

 

Coastal areas

Meanwhile, residents living near the coastline spent the night on the national highway for fear of a tsunami.

However, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said there is no tsunami threat.

PHIVOLCS said the quake, which was also felt in Metro Manila, was tectonic in origin and had a depth of focus of three kilometers.

Several classes on Wednesday have been suspended in Batangas and Laguna due to the earthquake. —KG/ALG, GMA News

Tags: batangasearthquake, earthquake, batangas
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