Magnitude 7.8 Quake Kills 77 in Mindanao, Damages Roads and Homes in Soccsksargen

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck offshore southwest of Maasim in Sarangani province on June 8, killing 77 people, injuring 1,339 others, and leaving 31 missing as of June 21, Rappler reported. Soccsksargen recorded 56 of the deaths and 1,259 of the injuries.

The region also sustained P1.2 billion in infrastructure damage, 67,119 damaged houses, and effects on 310,041 families totaling 1,321,125 individuals.

More than 100 roads and 39 bridges were damaged, with 20 roads and 10 bridges still impassable. The epicenter was located offshore southwest of Maasim, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. The coastal towns of Glan, Malapatan, Alabel, and Maasim in Sarangani and General Santos City in South Cotabato were most affected.

Armando Dantes, a 72-year-old farmer in a coastal town of Sarangani or South Cotabato, lost his daughter Karen Joy, 24, and grandchildren Rania Hazia, 3, and Rydan Xion, 8 months old, when a wall of his home collapsed. “Rania used to ask me for P5 to buy candy at the store. Now, no one’s asking me for coins.

I cried thinking about that,” Dantes told Rappler on June 19. Electricity has steadily returned to affected communities by mid-June, though potable water and stable communication lines remain slow to recover. Residents in Glan, Malapatan, Alabel, Maasim, and General Santos City continue to face access issues to croplands and fisheries due to coastal uplift that raised the seabed by up to two meters in parts of Sarangani.

Glan recorded the highest number of families in evacuation centers at 2,851. Its P10-million Quick Response Fund was exhausted by June 20, Mayor Victor James Yap Sr. told Rappler. General Santos City hall requires three to four months of repairs before it can reopen, Mayor Lorelei Pacquaio said.