By Alec Go
Six individuals have been reported dead while four others are missing following the 7.0-magnitude earthquake last Wednesday morning, July 27, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
Of the reported deaths, five were in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and the other fatality has yet to be validated.
A total of 136 individuals were also injured, while 19,846 families or 79,260 individuals were affected including 7,331 displaced in two regions, eight provinces, and 248 barangays.
As of Friday morning, power has been restored in all the 38 areas with interruptions and outages, while the water supply has yet to be restored in one affected area.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology said Thursday that signal has also been restored in affected areas with no telecommunications facility damaged by the quake.
The quake has led to 94 class suspensions and 183 work cancellations in CAR, Ilocos Region, and Cagayan Valley.
The Abra provincial government declared on Thursday a state of calamity following the massive impact of the earthquake, the epicenter of which was recorded in Tayum town.
According to the Department of Public Works and Highways, the estimated worth of damage to infrastructures has ballooned to P396.58 million covering the P104.53 million on national roads and P292.05 million on national bridges in CAR, Ilocos Region, and Cagayan Valley.
Clearing operations are ongoing in CAR and Ilocos.
The NDRRMC also included in its report that 1,535 houses were partially damaged and 48 were totally destroyed.
Meanwhile, the agricultural damage cost has been estimated at P3.88 million. – gb