The Surigao del Sur Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) reported that no damage has been recorded following the magnitude 6.0 earthquake that struck the province on Saturday night, October 11.
In an interview with Super Radyo DZBB on Sunday, October 12, PDRRMO Head Alex Arana expressed relief that the province remained unharmed.
“So far po, ito lang po, masaya po kami kasi po at least, sa awa ng Diyos, e wala naman pong mga damages na nai-report po sa amin,” Arana said.
“Pagdating naman po sa isyu ng mga lumikas, dahil po kami ay active po kami sa preparedness, lagi po kami nagpapaco-conduct ng earthquake drills.”
Arana explained that residents in coastal areas voluntarily evacuated even without an official tsunami warning — a result, he said, of the province’s proactive disaster preparedness measures.
“Usually, dapat may tsunami warning muna para mag-evacuate… Pero dahil po sa mga drills na ginagawa namin, nag-voluntary evacuation po iyong mga tao,” he added. “Nagsiuwian din po sila dahil po walang tsunami warning ‘yong Phivolcs na pinalabas.”
Arana also noted that Butuan City was affected by the quake, but they have yet to receive complete data since it falls outside their jurisdiction.
He clarified that the PDRRMO’s emergency operations center remains activated to consolidate reports from various local government units (LGUs).
“Activated pa po ang emergency operations kasi tumatanggap po kami ng mga reports based po doon sa rapid damage and needs analysis ng mga LGUs,” he said. “Kailangan po namin mag-submit sa Office of Civil Defense–CARAGA, which is our protocol for disaster risk reduction.”
Arana added that augmentation support was also deployed after some patients from high-rise hospital wards were temporarily evacuated as a safety measure.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) initially recorded the tremor at magnitude 6.2, later downgrading it to magnitude 6.0. The quake struck at around 11:09 p.m. on Saturday, October 11.
Despite the strong shaking, authorities confirmed that there were no casualties, no reported damage, and no tsunami warning issued for the province.