Batangas aftershocks mount further

Various structures and roads in Batangas and Laguna provinces suffered quake-related damages, it added. (Photo: TheCoffee (Mike Gonzalez)/ Wikipedia)

MANILA–The number of aftershocks in earthquake-shaken Batangas province continues rising.

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported recording, as of 2 p.m. Monday (April 10), a total 1,189 aftershocks of small and moderate magnitudes.

Fourteen of such aftershocks were felt, said Phivolcs.

The aftershocks include those from the magnitude 5.5 earthquake that struck Batangas’ Tingloy area last Tuesday night (April 4).

Phivolcs included such aftershocks as the agency reclassified that earthquake — a main shock then — into a foreshock, noting a higher magnitude 6.0 temblor struck nearby Mabini area this Saturday (April 8).

Such occurrence made the magnitude 6.0 temblor the main shock there instead, Phivolcs noted.

Movement of a still-unnamed local fault caused the temblor, said Phivolcs seismologist Erlington Olavere.

He urged people concerned to avoid panicking when aftershocks occur.

In its situation report released Monday, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said 19 evacuation centers in Batangas housed 6,022 of the quake-affected persons.

NDRRMC also said landslide and ground rupture were reported in Batangas’ Cuenca and Mabini municipalities, respectively.

Various structures and roads in Batangas and Laguna provinces suffered quake-related damages, it added.