Philippines ends quake rescue efforts, priority now on helping the 20,000 displaced
BOGO, Philippines: Philippine authorities said on Thursday that search and rescue operations in quake-hit Cebu province have ended, as the current death toll of 72 was not expected to go much higher and missing people had been accounted for.
Attention has now turned to delivering aid to survivors of the 6.9-magnitude quake that has become the country’s deadliest in more than a decade.
Striking waters off Cebu’s central island late Tuesday, the quake has caused more than 20,000 people to be displaced, while over 300 have been injured.
On Thursday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr visited Bogo, a city of some 90,000 that was the worst-affected, seeking to reassure evacuees and noting that relief operations have been complicated due to widespread damage to infrastructure.
