By Rene Acosta & Jonathan L. Mayuga
A 6.5-magnitude earthquake rocked Eastern Samar on Tuesday less than 24 hours after a strong tremor rattled a big part of Luzon including Metro Manila, killing at least 16 people, leaving over 80 others injured and dozens more missing in a collapsed supermarket building in Pampanga.
As authorities assessed the damage from Monday’s quake to buildings and government infrastructure, seismologists tracked the even stronger temblor in the Visayas, site of the so-called killer quake of October 2013.
A government-issued bulletin said the latest temblor struck San Julian, Eastern Samar, at around 1:37 p.m. and was felt at Intensity V in Tacloban and Catbalogan Cities. It was also felt in Masbate, Legaspi and Sorsogon Cities in Bicol region at Intensity IV.
The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said later on Tuesday afternoon that it had restored power transmission services to the entire franchise of Northern Samar Electric Cooperative and parts of Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative.
The grid operator said restoration of power transmission services in other earthquake-affected provinces is ongoing.
It also lifted the red alert notice for the Luzon grid at 5 p.m. No manual load dropping was implemented.
Still, Luzon was placed on yellow alert notice until 10 p.m. of April 23 due to thin reserves. The grid’s available capacity stood at 10,643 megawatts as against a peak demand of 9,222 MW.
Meanwhile, the Department of Energy (DOE) reported that 98.5 percent of power has been restored in Pampanga Electric Cooperative II (Pelco II), following the earthquake that hit Luzon last Monday.
The remaining 1.5 percent covers around 2,300 households in the municipalities of Guagua, Lubao and Porac.
While the rest of Luzon has already been reenergized, Pelco II is targeting the full restoration of power in its service area by Wednesday morning.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said it was monitoring possible damage and even casualties out of the quake, although a subsequent bulletin it issued had eased fears of a tsunami in coastal villages in the Visayas.
The military reported only minor damage, although assessment in all affected areas is continuing. An initial report from Major Gen. Eugenio Clement, commander of the Armed Forces Central Command, said only minor cracks were reported in buildings and roads in affected municipalities in Eastern Samar.
He said one was injured from the earthquake. A power outage was reported in Borongan, Eastern Samar. With a report by Lenie Lectura