Magnitude 5.5 earthquake injures 1, damages bridge in South Cotabato

SOUTH COTABATO, Philippines – A 30-year old man was injured after driving his motorbike onto a bridge that partly collapsed after a magnitude 5.5 temblor struck Mindanao early dawn on Saturday, August 26.

The earthquake, which was felt in a wide area in South Cotabato, damaged a bridge and roads, triggered landslides, and destroyed a house in barangay Desowo, a remote village in Tboli town, South Cotabato.

Police identified the injured person as 30-year-old Hernan M. Relasrelas, who was driving home past 3 am, minutes after the quake hit.

Relasrelas was not aware the quake eroded the bridge approach, creating a large hole, said Lieutenant Colonel Pampolina, Tboli police chief.

Tboli rescuers who were dispatched to check on quake damages chanced upon Relasrelas and plucked him out from where he fell. He was rushed to the Moorehouse Mission Hospital in the town.

Aside from the damaged bridge, the quake toppled a coconut tree that fell on a house in Desowo. No one was reported hurt, said Rolly Aquino, head of the South Cotabato Disaster Risk Response Office.

The tremor also triggered landslides and caused some road portions to crack.

An earthquake bulletin by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), said the earthquake hit at around 3:13 am and was felt strongest in Surallah, an adjacent town of Tboli.

In its advisory, Phivolcs said the earthquake was of tectonic origin and occurred at a depth of 11 kilometers. It was felt in varying degrees of intensity in South Cotabato, Sarangani, and Sultan Kudarat. – Rappler.com