ILOILO – The managements of Aleosan District Hospital in Barangay Bancal, Alimodian town and Rep. Pedro G. Trono Memorial District Hospital in Guimbal ordered the evacuation of patients following earthquakes that rocked the province yesterday morning.
According to Provincial Administrator Raul Banias, 67 patients at the Korean International Cooperation Agency Building at Aleosan District Hospital were moved to other safer buildings of the hospital.
Provincial Engineer’s Office inspectors found crack on the roof deck, said Banias.
Dr. Paz Calopiz, chief of hospital, ordered the evacuation.
Meanwhile, several second floor patients at the OB/GYN building of Rep. Pedro G. Trono Memorial District Hospital were moved to the service area after cracks were found on a beam.
The hospital also asked the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 6 to conduct a structural integrity check on the hospital.
Banias said the evacuated patients would be temporarily staying in areas where they were moved until the two hospitals had been declared structurally safe.
Earthquakes of tectonic origin struck Iloilo City, Iloilo and Antique provinces in Panay Island, and the island province of Guimaras yesterday morning. The tremors were felt as far as Capiz and Negros Occidental. Anxious people rushed out of their houses, offices, schools, malls, and other business establishments.
The first quake was felt at 7:45 a.m. Measuring at magnitude 4.7, its epicenter was five kilometers southeast of San Remigio, Antique, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). An initial report from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) placed it at some eight kilometers of the capital town of San Jose but later revised it to be in Leon, Iloilo.
Guimaras reported a milder magnitude 4.0 tremor shortly after. Phivolcs said it was tectonic in origin, too, and its epicenter was two kilometers northwest of Sibunag town but later revised it to be in Buenavista.
A stronger earthquake at magnitude 4.8 was felt around 10:54 a.m. This time, the epicenter was five kilometers northwest of Guimbal, Iloilo (later revised to be in Leon, Iloilo), according to Phivolcs. It was also tectonic in origin and was also felt in parts of Capiz and Negros Occidental provinces./PN
