MANAY, Philippines: Dazed survivors of a pair of major earthquakes in the southern Philippines awoke on Saturday to scenes of devastation, after hundreds of aftershocks rocked the region overnight.
Many coastal residents of Mindanao island had slept outdoors, fearful of being crushed to death by aftershocks of the 7.4- and 6.7-magnitude quakes that struck off the coast within hours of each other on Friday.
Philippine authorities said at least eight people were killed but they were still assessing the extent of the damage.
In Manay, a Mindanao municipality of 40,000, people were removing debris and sweeping up broken glass from homes and other buildings Saturday morning.
“Our small house and our small store were destroyed,” resident Ven Lupogan said.
“We have nowhere to sleep. There’s no electricity. We have nothing to eat.”
The destruction came less than two weeks after a 6.9-magnitude quake struck the central Philippine island of Cebu, killing 75 people and wrecking about 72,000 houses.
800 aftershocks
Some people in Manay slept in tents, under improvised tarps and hammocks, inside vehicles, and on mats laid out in parks or the sides of streets as aftershocks rippled across the region of 1.8 million people.
At the heavily damaged Manay government hospital, patients lay on beds outside waiting for treatment.
Many had been wheeled out on Friday because government engineers said the building had been structurally compromised.
Nearby shopkeepers cleaned up broken glass and put merchandise back on shelves, AFP journalists saw.
Vilma Lagnayo scrambled to save her family’s clothes and belongings from their collapsed Manay home.
“Reconstructing (our home) is difficult now... Money is a problem,” Lagnayo said.
The Philippine seismology office has recorded more than 800 aftershocks since the first quake struck Mindanao, which is riddled by major faults. It said these are expected to last for weeks.
In Mati, about two hours’ drive southwest along the coast, Margarita Mulle and her relatives held a wake for her older sister who had earlier died from disease, even as neighbors stayed away after tsunami warnings that have since been lifted.
“In case something happens, they (relatives) will carry the body using a ‘tora-tora’,” a tearful Mulle said, using a local term for a hand tractor-drawn cart that is a major mode of transport in rural areas of the south.
Earthquakes are a near-daily occurrence in the Philippines, which is situated on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
An 8.0-magnitude quake off Mindanao island’s southwest coast in 1976 unleashed a tsunami that left 8,000 people dead or missing, the Philippines’ deadliest natural disaster.
Philippines begins clean-up after powerful twin quakes
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Philippines begins clean-up after powerful twin quakes
- Destruction comes less than two weeks after a 6.9-magnitude quake struck the central Philippine island of Cebu
- Earthquakes are a near-daily occurrence in the Philippines, which is situated on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”
France to vaccinate cattle for lumpy skin disease as farmers protest against cull
- The announcement comes after several outbreaks of the highly contagious disease prompted authorities to order the culling of entire herds
PARIS: France will vaccinate 1 million head of cattle in the coming weeks against lumpy skin disease, Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard said on Saturday, as protesting farmers blocked roads in opposition to the government’s large-scale culling policy.
The announcement comes after several outbreaks of the highly contagious disease prompted authorities to order the culling of entire herds, sparking demonstrations by farmers who consider the measure excessive.
Lumpy skin disease is a virus spread by insects that affects cattle and buffalo, causing blisters and reducing milk production. While not harmful to humans, it often results in trade restrictions and severe economic losses.
“We will vaccinate nearly one million animals in the coming weeks and protect farmers. I want to reiterate that the state will stand by affected farmers, their losses will be compensated as well as their operating losses,” Genevard told local radio network ICI.
France says that total culling of infected herds, alongside vaccination and movement restrictions, is necessary to contain the disease and allow cattle exports. If the disease continues to spread in livestock farms, it could kill “at the very least, 1.5 million cattle,” Genevard told Le Parisien daily in a previous interview.
A portion of the A64 motorway south of Toulouse remained blocked since Friday afternoon, with about 400 farmers and some 60 tractors still in place on Saturday morning, according to local media.
The government, backed by the main FNSEA farming union, maintains that total culling of infected herds is necessary to prevent the disease from spreading and triggering export bans that would devastate the sector.
But the Coordination Rurale, a rival union, opposes the systematic culling approach, calling instead for targeted measures and quarantine protocols.
“Vaccination will be mandatory because vaccination is protection against the disease,” Genevard said, adding that complete culling remains necessary in some cases because the disease can be asymptomatic and undetectable.
France detected 110 outbreaks across nine departments and culled about 3,000 animals, according to the agriculture ministry. It has paid nearly six million euros to farmers since the first outbreak on June 29.
