Phivolcs: Aftershocks could last for weeks

Death toll in Cebu quake climbs to 72

- CHRISTINE BOTON

Aftershocks from the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck Cebu on Sept. 30 could continue for weeks and possibly months, causing more destruction, seismologists warned, as the death toll rose to 72 yesterday.

As of 4 p.m. yesterday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) had recorded 3,036 aftershocks, of which 586 were plotted and 15 were felt. The tremors ranged from magnitude 1.0 to 5.0, according to the agency's monitoring station in Medellin.

Winchelle Sevilla, chief of Phivolcs' Seismological Observation and Earthquake Prediction Division, said the quake, which shook Bogo City and the municipalities of Bantayan, Medellin, Tabuelan and San Remigio at Intensity 7, was considered "very strong" and capable of generating destructive ground shaking.

"Based on such a strong earthquake, usually aftershocks can be felt for weeks or for months. But as time goes by, the aftershocks will weaken. But it is still possible that even if it has been a long time, [or] months, there is still a possibility that there are stronger aftershocks that our countrymen can feel," Sevilla said in an interview.

According to authorities, the death toll from the quake reached 72, with fatalities recorded in the following areas: 30 in Bogo City, 22 in San Remigio, 12 in Medellin, five in Tabogon, and one each in the towns of Sogod, Tabuelan and Borbon.

Sevilla explained that the quake was triggered by movement along an offshore fault that had not been previously mapped. He noted that historical records show no destructive earthquakes in the epicentral area over the last 400 years.

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