Earthquake leaves nearly 300 classrooms damaged in Cebu —DepEd

At least 34 classrooms were completely destroyed and hundreds more sustained damage after a magnitude 6.9 tectonic earthquake struck near the City of Bogo, Cebu, late Tuesday night, prompting emergency assessments across thousands of schools in the Visayas.

The Department of Education (DepEd) reported that more than 16,859 schools in 73 school divisions were exposed to the earthquake’s impact. 

As of 9 a.m. on October 1, the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service (DRRMS) had received 54 initial reports, noting that 2,220 learners and 97 teaching and non-teaching personnel were affected.

Preliminary damage reports from Regions 6, 7, 8, and the Negros Island Region (NIR) showed:

• 34 classrooms totally destroyed
• 26 classrooms with major damage
• 197 classrooms with minor damage

No injuries among students have been reported so far.

“This remains an evolving situation,” DepEd said, stressing that further updates will be released as more data becomes available. The agency urged schools and communities to remain vigilant and prioritize earthquake preparedness amid the risk of aftershocks.

DepEd said it continues to closely monitor the situation and coordinate with regional and local officials to ensure the safety of learners, teachers, and school infrastructure.

The strong quake hit at 9:59 p.m. on September 30, 2025, with its epicenter located about 21 kilometers north and 73° east of Bogo City at a shallow depth of 5 kilometers, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS).

Meanwhile, the reported death toll in Cebu has increased to 60, according to an update from the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) around 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

More than 300 aftershocks have so far been recorded by PHIVOLCS.

The Visayas power grid, meanwhile, will be placed on yellow alert on Wednesday as several power plants went on forced outage following the earthquake. 

In an advisory, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines said the yellow alert will be hoisted from 1 p.m. to 12 midnight on October 1, 2025. A yellow alert is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirement. 

Classes and work were suspended in many areas due to the earthquake. —LDF, GMA Integrated News