GENERAL SANTOS CITY – No major structural damage was recorded in government and private buildings here following the magnitude 6.2 earthquake that jolted the area and neighboring localities Wednesday morning.
Engr. Emerald Signar, head of the City Engineer’s Office (CEO), said the overall structural integrity of the main city hall building and other structures within the local government center remained intact although some minor cracks were found.
He said their rapid assessment team specifically noticed new cracks at a portion of the walls of the city mayor’s office conference room.
These were in the same spot where visible cracks emerged following the series of earthquakes in the area last year and already underwent recent repairs through epoxy injection, he said.
Signar said several cracks at the masonry wall of the mayor’s office affected the installed tiles.
“That quake was quite strong at magnitude 6.2 and its epicenter was close to the city but it did not result in any major damage,” he told reporters.
The CEO conducted a rapid damage assessment on all local government structures based on a directive from City Mayor Ronnel Rivera.
Among those assessed were the main city hall building, oval plaza covered court, city gymnasium, city terminal, central public market, and the city hospital.
Work at the city hall building and other local government facilities was temporarily suspended by the mayor from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. to pave the way for the mandatory assessment of all existing structures.
The epicenter of the quake, which hit the area at 7:21 a.m., was traced at a portion of the seas southeast of Sarangani town in Davao Occidental.
No one was reported hurt as a result of the temblor, which was felt at Intensity 5 in this city and Intensity 4 in parts of Sarangani, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and Maguindanao provinces.
A report from the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said the quake caused the cladding of the aluminum composite panel attached to the sidewall of the SM Mall to give way.
But it said the mall’s main structure did not incur any major damage and its operations remained normal.
In Sarangani province, Alabel Mayor Vic Paul Salarda said minor cracks were found on some of the buildings of the Alabel National High School. (PNA)
