Classes have been suspended in several areas of Eastern Visayas on Wednesday following the magnitude 6.9 earthquake near Bogo City, Cebu, which was also felt in Leyte and Samar provinces.
In Biliran, Governor Rogelio Espina ordered a suspension of classes for elementary and secondary schools, citing safety concerns. “Our engineers from local government units and the Department of Public Works and Highways will assess first the structural integrity of school facilities,” Espina said in a Facebook post.
Other areas with class suspensions include Calubian, Leyte, and Tabango towns in Leyte province; Catbalogan City and Jiabong in Samar; and Macrohon in Southern Leyte. Private institutions, including Samar Colleges in Catbalogan City and Southern Leyte State University in Sogod, also cancelled all face-to-face classes for the day.
The quake also caused power disruptions across the region. The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) raised a yellow alert over the Visayas grid from 1 p.m. to midnight Wednesday after 27 power plants became unavailable.
“Around 1,444.1 megawatts (MW) were lost after the tripping of the power plants due to the tremor,” the NGCP said. The available capacity in the Visayas is around 1,888 MW, while peak demand is 1,839 MW. A yellow alert indicates that the available power supply has a limited margin compared to demand.