REELING from the strong earthquake that rocked the province on Thursday last week, Leyte was again jolted by a strong aftershock that sent employees and students scampering for safety.
Classes in elementary and high schools in Tacloban were suspended to ensure the safety of children from another possible aftershock.
A 5.4 magnitude aftershock was recorded at 9:41 a. m. on Monday. The quake was recorded at magnitude 5 in Ormoc City and magnitude 4 in Tacloban and the towns of Mayorga and Leyte in the province.
Employees at the Department of Education (DepEd) Leyte Division, who were working without electricity, immediately left the building to their holding area when the earth started to shake.
Rodelia Abin, chief of School Governance Division at DepEd Leyte, said employees left the building calmly after they had undergone many earthquake drills in the past.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the strong aftershock lasted for five seconds. Swaying of cables on electric posts, however, lasted more than 30 seconds.
Senior-high student Zoe Pacure said they were sent home to ensure their safety in case another aftershock hit. She said no advice was given to them if classes would resume on Tuesday.
In Ormoc City two people staying in a hotel reportedly jumped out of the window from the hotel’s second floor when the quake hit. They sustained minor injuries.
Many injuries were also reported in different hospitals due mainly to panic.
Over 600 aftershocks had been monitored since the strong quake on July 6.
As of press time, except for seven towns in Leyte, the rest of Eastern Visayas, including the cities of Tacloban and Ormoc, were still without electricity, four days after the 6.5-magnitude quake hit Thursday afternoon.
The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) is conducting a test to check the viability of transmitting electricity from Cebu through a temporary line that will provide power to the rest of Eastern Visayas.
In a statement, NGCP said that, when testing is completed and successful, power will flow through the Tabango-Ormoc bypass line that will energize Leyte, Biliran and Samar islands. The testing was halted last Sunday evening due to heavy rainfall in the area.
The NGCP’s Ormoc-Tongonan 138-kilovolt line is ready to receive power from Tongonan plant as soon as supply becomes available.