7.7 magnitude earthquake hits northern Samar

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 MANILA, Philippines – The 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck off the coast of Guiuan, Eastern Samar on Friday was also felt strongly in Northern Samar.
Many residents living in coastal areas fled their homes Friday night fearing a tsunami that could be generated by the quake.
Phivolcs placed Northern Samar under tsunami alert level 3 on Friday, which means a possibility of waves of up to 1 meter high.
Waves did not even reach that magnitude and a little past midnight, evacuees began returning to their homes.
A check on the local infrastructure so far revealed very minimal damage with small cracks appearing on already damaged structures such as bridges and seawalls.
However, local authorities are still conducting a survey of the entire province to make up for damage assessment
Engineers from the Department of Public Works and Highways expect a full damage assessment as early as Sunday morning.
The 7.6-magnitude earthquake that hit central and southern parts of the Philippines Friday night has initially caused P12.8-million worth of damages to infrastructure, a senior government official said today.
Benito Ramos, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said the destroyed public infrastructure mostly came from the central Philippine region of Eastern Visayas.
"An estimated cost of damages/planned restoration cost amounting to P12.8 million for various public infrastructures in Region VIII (Eastern Visayas) was reported by Department of Public Works and Highways 8," he said.
Ramos cited that in Sulat town, Eastern Samar, which belongs to Eastern Visayas Region, a bridge, a few of roads and seaports sustained cracks, resulting to an estimated cost of damage of P8.3 million.
He added that there were still ongoing assessments conducted by the Regional and Provincial Risk Reduction and Management Council on the possible damage caused by the earthquake, whose epicenter was recorded 112 kilometers off Guiuan, Eastern Samar.