THE first major earthquake to hit the city after the Bohol Earthquake last 2013 and the country’s deadliest for over a decade, the 6.9 earthquake was felt in Cebu City last Sept. 30, toppling buildings, forcing families from their homes, leaving dead and injuring more in its wake.

According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), the tremor’s epicenter was centered north of Bogo City, northern Cebu. The first quakes were recorded at 9:59 PM local time, with aftershocks persisting until the following morning. 

Cebu City and some areas in Leyte felt the strongest readings, with San Fernando and Loaoang in Northern Samar, among others in the Visayan Islands, experiencing lighter tremors.

PHIVOLCS issued a tsunami alert for the areas of Biliran, Cebu, and Leyte, yet took it back the following day after observing no alarming wave activity, as no further reports of unusual sea level changes were received.

Parts of Cebu suffer terrible damage as 53 localities have been placed under a “state of calamity,” with infrastructure, churches, bridges, and buildings, both residential and commercial, badly damaged. Several heritage sites, such as the Archdiocesan Shrine of Santa Rosa de Lima and Parroquia de San Pedro Apostol Bantayan, also collapsed due to the centuries-old material and the intensity of the quakes.

Schools have been forced to shut down temporarily, with classrooms destroyed, power line outages, and some areas of the city having been deemed impassable, with bridges breaking down. 

Although initial reports are varied, data from Reuters show a total of 72 dead, with figures not expected to go significantly higher. Extensive damage has been reported from over 89 cities and municipalities, with over 366,000 people affected. Injuries are recorded with an estimate of above 300, while displacements hover around 20,000.

Cautioning the citizens, PHIVOLCS suspects that aftershocks may persist for weeks following the seismic event, with varied intensities, leading to already weakened structures being at risk. As of Oct. 8, 9188 aftershocks, 38 of which were felt, ranging between magnitudes 1 and 5.1, have been recorded.

On Oct. 2, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. visited some of the areas heavily struck by the earthquake, assessing the damage while promising relief efforts for the recovery of northern Cebu. Search, rescue, and recovery efforts were done by the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) alongside the Philippine National Police, while the Department of Energy continues to work on ways to restore power to the cities affected.

Currently, the victims suffer from a scarcity of drinking water and food, with LGUs reaching out to both national and international organizations for aid. 

Despite efforts to put up a “tent city” in areas such as Bogo and Daanbantayan to provide temporary shelter for those heavily affected, the displaced still struggle to secure a roof for their families, with some forced to sleep in plastic bags to protect themselves from the rain.

Various organizations and government departments continue to provide aid, with a total sum of 375 million estimated for a support fund designated for the rehabilitation efforts of Cebu, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

More earthquakes have shaken the country since then, with Davao Oriental and the Mindanaoan areas experiencing twin quakes of 7.4 and 6.8 intensity offshore, killing at least seven, causing landslides, and prompting more evacuations.