Posted September 01, 2012 17:34:40
Thousands of people on the Philippines' Pacific coast have returned home after fleeing in terror when a major offshore earthquake triggered a tsunami warning.
The Civil Defence Chief, Benito Ramos, says most fled the east coast by the time waves of up to half a metre hit coastal areas within an hour of the 7.6-magnitude quake striking on Friday.
Most returned home after the tsunami alert was lifted just after midnight local time.
About 50 families remain at evacuation centres, fearing a tsunami could still strike.
The quake triggered a landslide killing a woman and injuring her grandson on the southern island of Mindanao.
Evacuations were ordered for the east coasts of the islands of Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao.
Samar parish priest Lope Robredillo said the island's entire east coast suffered a power outage from the quake, but he did not see any visible damage to the town's buildings and roads.
"People here are used to typhoons, but a tsunami is a different proposition because Guiuan is almost entirely surrounded by water," he said.
Mr Ramos said the government did not have the total number of people who evacuated with many opting for refuge other than inside government buildings.
He said the quake damage was "very minimal" with cracks seen on a Samar gymnasium wall and three bridges, which remain open to light vehicles.
President Benigno Aquino says the government will be monitoring the quake-affected areas closely.
The region has been hit by devastating quakes in the past decade.
At least 230,000 people in 13 Indian Ocean countries were killed in a quake and tsunami off Indonesia in 2004.
Last year, an earthquake and tsunami off Japan's north-eastern coast killed about 20,000 people and triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years after waves battered a nuclear power station.
AFP
Topics: earthquake, disasters-and-accidents, philippines
Thousands of people on the Philippines' Pacific coast have returned home after fleeing in terror when a major offshore earthquake triggered a tsunami warning.
The Civil Defence Chief, Benito Ramos, says most fled the east coast by the time waves of up to half a metre hit coastal areas within an hour of the 7.6-magnitude quake striking on Friday.
Most returned home after the tsunami alert was lifted just after midnight local time.
About 50 families remain at evacuation centres, fearing a tsunami could still strike.
The quake triggered a landslide killing a woman and injuring her grandson on the southern island of Mindanao.
Evacuations were ordered for the east coasts of the islands of Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao.
Samar parish priest Lope Robredillo said the island's entire east coast suffered a power outage from the quake, but he did not see any visible damage to the town's buildings and roads.
"People here are used to typhoons, but a tsunami is a different proposition because Guiuan is almost entirely surrounded by water," he said.
Mr Ramos said the government did not have the total number of people who evacuated with many opting for refuge other than inside government buildings.
He said the quake damage was "very minimal" with cracks seen on a Samar gymnasium wall and three bridges, which remain open to light vehicles.
President Benigno Aquino says the government will be monitoring the quake-affected areas closely.
The region has been hit by devastating quakes in the past decade.
At least 230,000 people in 13 Indian Ocean countries were killed in a quake and tsunami off Indonesia in 2004.
Last year, an earthquake and tsunami off Japan's north-eastern coast killed about 20,000 people and triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years after waves battered a nuclear power station.
AFP
Topics: earthquake, disasters-and-accidents, philippines