Quake Hits Philippines Days After Typhoon Haiyan Causes Widespread Destruction, Leaves Thousands Dead
While thousands struggle to recover from typhoon Haiyan the region faced another natural disaster, as a 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit the Philippine island of Bohol on Tuesday.
The quake's epicenter was in the San Isidro municipality of the island province, according to a U.S. Geological Survey report.
The epicenter is roughly 30 miles from Tagbilaran, the provincial capital that is home to nearly 100,000 people. The Philippines Institute of Volcanology and Seismology put the depth of the quake just under 10 miles.
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Geologists stated that the relatively small quake was an aftershock of the much larger 7.2 magnitude quake that hit the island on Oct. 15. There was no immediate word of causalities resulting from the earthquake and a tsunami alert was not issued.
The earthquake that occurred last month killed 22 people and displaced tens of thousands. It also caused damage to more than 73,000 structures, according to CNN.
Bohol Island is located just south of the path of devastation left behind by the powerful typhoon Haiyan.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in the Philippines has confirmed nearly 2,000 deaths thus far. Initial estimates had put the death toll over 10,000, but revised estimates are putting the death toll closer to 5,000.
More than 600,000 people have been displaced by the typhoon, according to local agencies, while many remote areas hit by the storm were still inaccessible due to landslides and fallen trees. The town of Guiuan is home to 40,000 people and has been cut off from relief since the storm hit.
It is estimated that as many as 25 million people are affected, with local reports describing houses damaged and large trees uprooted after a storm surge of over 20 feet crashed onto shore with winds reaching over 200 mph. An estimated 500,000 have been left homeless after their houses were reduced to splinters.
"There's an awful lot of casualties, a lot of people dead all over the place, a lot of destruction," Richard Gordon, head of the Philippine Red Cross, told the BBC. "It's absolute bedlam right now, but hopefully it will turn out better as more and more supplies get into the area."
