Duterte visits quake-hit Pampanga

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte conducts an inspection of earthquake-affected areas in Porac, Pampanga on April 23, 2019. Accompanying the President are House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go. ROBINSON NIÑAL JR./PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte is currently in Pampanga to attend a situation briefing after a 6.1 magnitude earthquake jolted the province and other parts of Luzon on Monday afternoon.

Duterte arrived the Provincial Capitol, Pampanga via chopper at 6 p.

m. on Tuesday.

The Chief Executive inspected the quake damages in Porac town before attending the situation briefing.

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) earlier reported that the epicenter of the quake was in Castillejos, Zambales.

Phivolcs chief Renato Solidum Jr.

, however, explained in an interview over CNN that the biggest damage was recorded in the neighboring province of Pampanga due to its “soft sediment.”

The Provincial Legislative Board has placed Pampanga under a state of calamity.

Pampanga Vice Governor Dennis Pineda said the actual extent of the damages on public infrastructures and private properties are still being assessed.

As of posting time, reports showed that the death toll in Pampanga rose to 15 as more bodies were recovered from collapsed Chuzon Supermarket, barangays in Porac and two others in Lubao town.