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Batanes town built to withstand typhoons buckles amid strong quake

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Katrina Domingo and Karl Cedrick Basco, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/reuters/07/27/2019727-philippines-quake-rtr.jpg"/><figcaption>In this photo obtained from social media, cracks are seen on the facade of a building after an earthquake struck Batanes on Saturday. Edna Gato via Reuters</figcaption></figure></div><p>&quot;We were prepared for storms, but not this.&quot;</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="tl"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BatanesQuake?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BatanesQuake</a> | Napinsala rin ang Itbayat National Agricultural High School dahil sa magkasunod na 5.4 at 5.9 na lindol. | Kuha ni Poleng Apostol <a href="https://t.co/1U04KzkdYI">pic.twitter.com/1U04KzkdYI</a></p>— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABSCBNNews/status/1154936274999902208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2019</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>This is how Ivatans from Itbayat town, Batanes, summed up their reaction after a series of <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/27/19/several-dead-in-batanes-quakes">earthquakes </a>jolted the country&#x27;s northernmost municipality leaving at least 8 dead and 60 others injured.</p><p>Three strong tremors with magnitudes ranging between 3.2 and 5.9 toppled the island&#x27;s treasured limestone houses, as well as the belfry of the the centuries-old Nuestra Señora del Rosario Parish.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="tl"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BatanesQuake?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BatanesQuake</a> | Ito ang itsura ng Nuestra Señora del Santissimo Rosario sa Itbayat, Batanes matapos ang dalawang malalakas na lindol | Kuha ni Dominic de Sagon Asa <a href="https://t.co/QUBccUQX1N">pic.twitter.com/QUBccUQX1N</a></p>— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABSCBNNews/status/1154933699722395648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2019</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>&quot;Lahat tulala, parang wala nang pag-asa,&quot; parish secretary Dominic Asa told ABS-CBN News. &quot;Nakakalungkot kasi pangalawang bahay ko na ang kumbento.&quot;</p><p>(Everybody was in shock, it seemed hopeless. It&#x27;s sad, because the convent has been my second home.)</p><p>Since the 5.2-magnitude foreshock struck at about 4 a.m., people evacuated to the plaza and open areas fearing aftershocks, he added.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="tl">TINGNAN: Mga bahay sa Brgy Sta. Maria, Itbayat, Batanes, napinsala dahil sa Magnitude 5.4 na lindol na tumama kaninang madaling araw sa lugar | Kuha ni Analyn Dita Nico <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LindolPH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LindolPH</a> <a href="https://t.co/tAzatpy165">pic.twitter.com/tAzatpy165</a></p>— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABSCBNNews/status/1154888720299937792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 26, 2019</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>Agnes Nico and her family were among the thousands who flocked to the town plaza after the tremors.</p><p>&quot;Takot na takot ako lalo na nu&#x27;ng nakita ko ibang mga bahay na gumiba,&quot; said Nico, 40, a teacher who lived most of her life on the island.</p><p>(I was very scared especially when I saw other houses crumbling down.)</p><p>Nico said the rice she just finished cooking tumbled to the floor along with their stove as the quake rocked her hometown.</p><p>&quot;Nanginginig mga anak ko sa takot kanina,&quot; she said, before recalling the last time she experienced a temblor.</p><p>(My children were trembling in fear.)</p><p>&quot;Nasa Basco po kami nu&#x27;ng July 2001 po ata. Nag-aaral pa ako noon pero mas malakas po &#x27;yung lindol ngayon dito sa Itbayat.&quot;</p><p>(We were in Basco when a quake stuck around July 2001. I was still studying then, but these quakes in Itbayat were stronger.)</p><p>&quot;First time po kami may casualty sa calamity,&quot; Nico added. &quot; &#x27;Yung bagyo napaghahandaan po namin but not this.&quot;</p><p>(This is the first time we had casualties during a calamity. We were prepared for storms, but not this.)</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="tl">TINGNAN: Gumuho ang ilang bahay sa Itbayat, Batanes, matapos ang magnitude 5.4 na lindol Sabado ng madaling araw. | Kuha ni Agnes Salengua Nico <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LindolPH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LindolPH</a> <a href="https://t.co/fdkEE2gxbn">pic.twitter.com/fdkEE2gxbn</a></p>— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABSCBNNews/status/1154896825398120449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 26, 2019</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>Batanes, a group of islands off the northern coast of Luzon, is usually battered by storms as the territory lies halfway between the Philippines and Taiwan.</p><p>For centuries, Ivatans, the island&#x27;s natives, built their houses from limestones that could weather strong winds and heavy rains.</p><p>These decades-old houses that also served as popular tourist backdrops amid the island&#x27;s hilly landscape couldn&#x27;t withstand ground tremors, though.</p><p>Hours after the quakes, residents began pulling dead bodies out of collapsed homes.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="tl">PANOORIN: Tulong-tulong ang mga taga-Sta. Maria, Itbayat, Batanes, upang kunin ang lalaking natabunan ng gumuhong pader ng isang bahay | Kuha ni Agnes Salengua Nico <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LindolPH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LindolPH</a> <a href="https://t.co/a3caFlf1eS">pic.twitter.com/a3caFlf1eS</a></p>— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABSCBNNews/status/1154897136560955392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 26, 2019</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>&quot;Nadaganan sila doon sa mga bahay nila . . . Nakaano [tira] kasi sila sa old houses na made of lime[stones] na walang bakal,&quot; Itbayat Mayor Raul De Sagon told DZMM.</p><p>(They were buried by debris in their houses because they live in old houses made out of limestones, without metal reinforcement.)</p><p>School teacher Edna Gato told Reuters: &quot;It&#x27;s traumatic . . . New houses were damaged and the old houses, which we were preserving, were completely destroyed.&quot; </p><p>De Sagon has appealed for medical aid and psychological counselling for his constituents.</p><p>&quot;Kung may gustong tumulong, &#x27;yung medical supplies lang and doctors, trauma doctors,&quot; De Sagon said.</p><p>(If there are people who would want to help, we need medical supplies and doctors, trauma doctors.)</p><p>&quot;Maybe mga psychiatrist dahil &#x27;yung mga bata dito tulala. Kahit mga matatanda kailangan siguro matingnan ng mga psychiatrist.&quot;</p><p>(Maybe we need psychiatrists because the kids here are still in a daze. Even the adults need to be checked by psychiatrists.)</p>

<p>"We were prepared for storms, but not this." This is how Ivatans from Itbayat town, summed up their reaction after a series of earthquakes jolted their area.</p>

"We were prepared for storms, but not this." This is how Ivatans from Itbayat town, summed up their reaction after a series of earthquakes jolted their area.

Batanes town built to withstand typhoons buckles amid strong quake

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Batanes town built to withstand typhoons buckles amid strong quake

Katrina Domingo and Karl Cedrick Basco,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jul 27, 2019 04:14 PM PHT

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Updated Jul 27, 2019 05:12 PM PHT

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