Quake-shut Ormoc City Airport to resume operations Saturday

The Ormoc Airport in Leyte will resume its operations on Saturday, a day after it was shut down for possible damage from the magnitude-6.5 earthquake that struck the Eastern Visayas province Thursday afternoon.

A thorough inspection of the airport's structures and the runway was completed on Friday, 24 hours after the quake, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Saturday.

Also completed on Friday was the painting of displaced threshold marking that will serve as a warning sign at damaged portions of the runway.

"Ormoc Airport will become operational tomorrow, 08 July 2017, after the issuance of a Notice To Airmen (NOTAM) from the CAAP (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines)," DOTr said in a statement.

Ormoc Airport's runway sustained surface damage from the quake, prompting authorities to temporarily close its operations.

At about 4 p.m. on Thursday, the magnitude-6.5 quake struck Leyte province with its epicenter traced at 8 kilometers southwest of Jaro town, with a depth of 2 kilometers.

It was felt at Intensity V in Tacloban City and Palo, Leyte, and even as far as Cebu City.

Citing information from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), a dzBB report said Saturday morning that the quake's death toll has risen to 3.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said that its monitoring network recorded 297 aftershocks as of 1 p.m. of July 7.  —Marlly Rome Bondoc/LBG, GMA News