The mayor of a southern Philippine town devastated by Monday’s earthquake issued an urgent plea for helicopter assistance to deliver food to several villages cut off by landslides, warning of growing hunger.
The 7.8-magnitude offshore quake, one of the most powerful to strike the Philippine archipelago in half a century, killed at least 47 people, injured 688, left 31 missing, and damaged over 12,600 homes across farming towns and cities.
The tremor struck off the southern province of Sarangani, which reported the highest death toll of 20, primarily due to a landslide that engulfed homes in the coastal town of Glan, according to the Office of Civil Defence.
The disaster also displaced more than 45,000 people, nearly half of whom sought refuge in emergency shelters. Provincial officials said that many were too traumatised by the ongoing aftershocks to return home.
Glan mayor Victor James Yap confirmed that power was yet to be restored to his province and that 10 of the town's 31 villages, home to over 100,000 people, remained inaccessible, mostly due to landslides. He called on the government to immediately deploy air force helicopters to transport vital food and aid.
"We need food and water but it’s difficult to transport them to some of our villages which remain isolated," Mr Yap told DZMM radio network.
"Choppers are needed to transport food because people there are already very hungry."
While a crucial access road to the town had been reopened, allowing for fuel deliveries as early as Thursday, Glan continued to suffer from a lack of electricity and unreliable phone services, he said.
The Office of Civil Defence said that over 26 million pesos (£320,000) worth of food packs, cash and other assistance had been distributed. A substantial response effort was underway, with 180 planes, helicopters, ships, and trucks deployed.
Alongside, some 3,400 government and military personnel were engaged in searching for the missing, clearing debris from roads, assessing damage, and other disaster mitigation tasks.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr visited the hard-hit city of General Santos on Wednesday, inspecting damaged hospitals and schools and discussing recovery strategies. He authorised the release of 100 million pesos (£123,000) for the repair of the partially collapsed city hall and 50,000 pesos (£613) for the families of each of the dead.
The earthquake triggered tsunami waves reaching up to 1.4m above tide level in the country’s south, with smaller waves affecting Indonesia, Palau, and even southern Japan.
The earthquake was the strongest to hit the Philippines since an 8.1-magnitude quake and tsunami on 17 August 1976, which claimed around 8,000 lives.
The Philippines is frequently affected by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", a volatile arc of seismic faults.
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