OCD: 3 deaths in Mati, Davao Oriental after magnitude 7.4 earthquake

At least three victims have been reported dead in Davao Oriental following the Magnitude-7.4 earthquake that hit the area on Friday morning.

In a dzBB interview, Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Region 11 director Ednar Dayanghirang said that three deaths have been confirmed in the City of Mati.

“Yung dalawa diyan may mga sakit at nasa pagamutan, at paglindol nagkaron ng cardiac arrest. Yung isa, worker ng isang quarry area at natabunan. Tatlo ang confirmed deaths,” Dayanghirang said.

(Two of those were sick and in the hospital, and had a cardiac arrest when the earthquake happened. The other one is a worker in a quarry area and was buried. There are now three confirmed deaths.)

Following an aerial survey, Dayanghirang confirmed that there was a landslide between Caragona and Mati with one passable lane, and a broken bridge in Caragona.

He also shared that several public-school buildings sustained damages.

“May mga bilang na sila sa count ng sira ngunit initial, surface assessment na muna sila. Wala pa yung engineering assessment to determine integrity of structure,” he shared.

(They already have a count for the initial damages, but it’s just for surface assessment for now. There’s still no engineering assessment to determine the integrity of structure.)

“We are really very happy that yung damage is not as many as expected, pero sa bayan ng Caragona, kausap ko ang mayor ngayon ang sabi niya as of now ang bilang niya meron silang 20 totally damaged house,” he added.

(We are really very happy that the damage is not as many as expected, but in Caragona, I’m talking to the mayor at the moment and he said that there were already 20 totally damaged houses as of now.)

He also noted that there were reports of two deaths in a mining area in Barangay Kingking Pantukan in Davao de Oro.

Meanwhile, he shared that the sea was calm despite the issued tsunami warning.

“Wala kaming nakitang signs ng tsunami threat. Napakaganda ng dagat, very calm ang dagat at ganda ng panahon,” he said.

(We didn’t see any signs of a tsunami threat. The sea was good, it was very calm and the weather was nice.)

He assured that residents along coastal areas were currently pre-emptively evacuated in elevated areas and are following local directives.

Earlier, Manay Governor Nelson Dayanghirang had shared that there had already been one death in Manay after a damaged part of a house collapsed on a 54-year-old female.

Several students were also reported to have received medical attention due to breathing difficulties and panic caused by the quake. –Jiselle Casucian/NB, GMA Integrated News