CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines (Dec. 5, 2023, 12:48 PM) – Tremors left a bridge in Bukidnon province impassable to vehicles and caused cracks on a bridge sidewalk in Cagayan de Oro in the aftermath of the strong earthquake and hundreds of aftershocks that were felt in Northern Mindanao over the weekend
Aftershocks of varying intensities were felt in Northern Mindanao since the magnitude 7.4 earthquake, with an epicenter off the coast of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur, struck on Saturday night, December 2.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Northern Mindanao, on Monday, December 4, issued a travel advisory stating that the bridge along the Impasugong-Patulangan Bypass Road in Impasugong town, Bukidnon, has shown “significant instability due to the recent frequent earthquakes and aftershocks.”
More than 900 aftershocks have been recorded after the magnitude 7.4 earthquake as of 3 pm on Sunday, Marcial Labininay, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) in Northern Mindanao, told the local broadcaster Magnum Radio on Monday.
The DPWH advised motorists to exercise caution for safety reasons by using the main Sayre Highway route when traveling via Bukidnon to other destinations in the central and southern parts of Mindanao.
The bridge in Impasugong is situated 13 kilometers near the Tagoloan River Fault which runs across the eastern portion of Misamis Oriental province and northern parts of Bukidnon.
The fault has been under hazard monitoring by the Northern Mindanao field office of the Phivolcs. It is less than 20 kilometers from Cagayan de Oro.
In Cagayan de Oro, a road maintenance team from the DPWH’s 2nd District Engineering Office had to apply cement epoxy to a two-meter crack and isolated cracks on the sidewalk of the Justiniano R. Borja Bridge.
The bridge, located in downtown Cagayan de Oro, connects Barangay 7 at Burgos Street to Barangay Carmen’s Vamenta Boulevard across the Cagayan River.
The DPWH in Cagayan de Oro attributed the cracks on the JR Borja Bridge sidewalk to the December 2 earthquake in Surigao del Sur and subsequent aftershocks that registered at least Intensity III on Phivolcs’ earthquake intensity meter mounted at the City Hall building.
Opened to the public in 2015, the JR Borja Bridge, however, remains passable to all types of vehicles despite the “minor cracks,” the advisory said.
No damage has been observed so far by the road maintenance team on five other bridges in the city.
Meanwhile, classes were ordered suspended in elementary and secondary schools in Cagayan de Oro City for two days to allow a public safety team to assess buildings on campuses in the aftermath of the earthquake and aftershocks that were felt in the region since Saturday night.
Uy issued Executive Order No. 401-2023 to call off the classes on Tuesday and Wednesday, December 5 and 6, to give way for the conduct of a rapid post-earthquake damage assessment on all school buildings.
Before that, he signed Executive Order No. 400-2023, creating the Cagayan de Oro Earthquake Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis Team, with him as chairman and the city’s disaster risk reduction and management officer as co-chairperson.
The team includes the heads of the Cagayan de Oro city government’s engineering, building, and legal offices as well as that of the offices of the city fire marshal and the city schools division superintendent. – (Uriel Quilingking/Rappler.com)