A car is buried under debris from a ruined old house in Vigan city, Ilocos Sur province north of Manila after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit the northern Philippines, on July 27, 2022. (Ricardo Raguini/AFP via Getty Images)
A 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the northern region of the island of Luzon in the Philippines on July 27, killing at least ten people and injuring dozens of others, according to a government official.
The temblor was centered about 13 kilometers (8 miles) southeast of Dolores in Abra Province, at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), according to a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said that five people were killed in the Benguet, Abra, Kalinga, and Cagayan provinces, while 64 others were injured, Philippine-based GMA News reported.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) initially measured the quake at 7.3 magnitude before downgrading it to 7.0. The quake was also felt in the capital, Manila, and nearby provinces.
Abra Rep. Ching Bernos said the quake “caused damages to many households and establishments” and “was felt in various parts of Luzon,” which prompted authorities to activate “preemptive measures in many places.”
“I urge everyone to stay alert and to prioritize safety in light of the possibilities of aftershocks that might be felt after that strong earthquake,” Bernos said in a statement.
Residents evacuate their building after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake 300 kilometers away was felt in Manila, on July 27, 2022. (Jam STA Rosa/AFP via Getty Images)
Bernos said that her office is “monitoring the situation on the ground and gathering information on the extent of the damage to the province” while actively coordinating with authorities on measures to assist families that were severely affected by the earthquake.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has also ordered the immediate dispatch of rescue teams and relief assistance to residents who were affected.
“Despite this saddening news about the damage caused by the earthquake, we are assuring everyone of the immediate dispatch of assistance to our affected countrymen,” Marcos wrote in a Twitter post.
The quake triggered power outages and internet disruptions in some areas in Benguet, but no tsunami alert was issued. The Philippine Air Force stated that it will use aerial inspection to assess damages in Abra, a state-run media agency reported.
The Philippines sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of faults around the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquakes occur. It’s also lashed by about 20 typhoons and tropical storms each year, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.
A magnitude 7.7 quake killed nearly 2,000 people in the northern Philippines in 1990.
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