Manila: The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has provided emergency observation and satellite images of the situation in Northern Cebu in the immediate aftermath of the powerful earthquake that struck the island last week, the Japanese Embassy in Manila said Tuesday.

According to Philippines News Agency, the agency provided the materials taken by JAXA's ALOS-2 (Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2) to the Philippines through the international cooperation framework of The Sentinel Asia. The embassy stated, "Japan will continue to work closely with the Philippines for its early recovery from the damages caused by the earthquake."

The Sentinel Asia, established in 2006 by the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF), is an international framework for disaster management in which images from Earth observation satellites and other sources are provided to each other in the event of a disaster. The APRSAF is led by Japan with JAXA serving as the secretariat, and is composed of 127 space and disaster management organizations.

The magnitude 6.9 earthquake that hit Bogo City, Cebu on Sept. 30 had been described as the worst experienced by the province in recent years. Based on the latest government count, the number of families affected by the tremor has climbed to 165,998, with at least 415 still staying in four evacuation centers, and 6,937 taking temporary shelter in other places. At least 72 were reported killed, while 559 were injured.