According to officials, the death toll from a major earthquake in the northern Philippines rose to 10 on Friday after four more bodies were found in the rubble as aftershocks continued to shake the mountainous areas.
Rescue teams in the most devastated town of Luba in Abra recovered a man’s body on a part of a road filled by a landslide during a magnitude 7.0 earthquake on Wednesday, the state’s Office of Civil Defense said. I told AFP.
Officials previously said landslides and collapsed structures had killed six other people in Abra and neighboring states. More than 150 people were injured.
A powerful quake spilled over the hills, damaging thousands of homes, knocking down buildings and shaking high-rise towers hundreds of kilometers away from the capital Manila.
According to the Social Welfare Department, military helicopters are flying food aid and other emergency supplies to the area, leaving nearly 5,000 people in shelters.
The workers’ crew bravely confronted the aftershocks to remove the debris blocking the area’s main roads.
More than 1000 aftershocks have been recorded since the quake, the state seismology department said on Friday.
The Philippines is regularly hit by earthquakes because it is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from Japan to Southeast Asia and Pacific voyages.
