West Valley Fault

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck South Cotabato early morning this Sunday.

The quake which hit at around 3:13 a.m. was located 9 kilometers south of Surallah town and had a depth of 11 kilometers. Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) determined the tremor to be tectonic in origin.

According to local reports the earthquake damaged a bridge and several roads, triggered landslides, and destroyed a house in barangay Desowo located in a remote village of Tboli in South Cotabato.

A resident suffered injuries after driving his motorbike onto a bridge that collapsed partially. The resident was identified as 30-year-old Hernan Relasrelas who was driving home when the earthquake struck.

He was fortunate enough to have been chanced upon by Tboli rescuers who were dispatched to check on the damages caused by the tremor and pulled him from the hole where he fell. He was brought to the Moorehouse Mission Hospital.

The shaking also toppled a coconut tree which fell on a house in Desowo but luckily no one was hurt according to Rolly Aquino, head of the South Cotabato Disaster Risk Response Office.

The following intensities were reported:

Intensity 4 – Surallah, Banga, Tampakan, Tupi, T’Boli and Koronadal City in South Cotabato, Maasim, Alabel, Glan, and Malapatan in Sarangani and General Santos City;

Intensity 3 – Lake Sebu in South Cotabato and Malungon, Sarangani;

Intensity 2 – Maitum, Sarangani.

The following instrumental intensities were recorded:

Instrumental Intensity 5 – Lake Sebu;

Instrumental Intensity 4 – Tupi, Banga, Polomolok, Surallah and Sto. Ñino in South Cotabato, General Santos as well as in Kiamba and Maasim in Sarangani.

Phivolcs warned of possible aftershocks.

Source: PhilstarGlobal, Rappler