Just the same, the Masbate National Comprehensive High School was then closed to ensure the safety of students, faculty, and staff.
The principal’s office announced that the school would shift to MDL for a day as a precautionary measure or until the school buildings are deemed safe by the City Engineering Office.
Samuel Manlapas was peddling pandesal (bread) in the city streets when the quake struck.
“Some dogs sprinted to the street. Some chicken flew from trees. Trees were swaying. But people never bothered to rush from their homes,” he said.
The quake was followed by a magnitude 3.9 tremor less than an hour later, as well as a 2.6-magnitude temblor at 7:25 a.m.
The quake was also felt in Milagros, Masbate (Intensity 5); San Fernando, Aroroy, and Monreal, all in Masbate (Intensity 4); cities of Legazpi and Tabaco in Albay and towns of Bulusan and Donsol in Sorsogon (Intensity 3); and Kawayan town in Biliran (Intensity 1).
The Philippines straddles the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire,” a highly seismically active zone, where different plates on the earth’s crust meet and create a large number of earthquakes and volcanoes. (PIA 5/Masbate)
