Southern Leyte: At least 324 classrooms were damaged by the recent magnitude 5.8 earthquake in Southern Leyte, the Department of Education (DepEd) regional office here reported. Jazmin Calzita, DepEd regional information officer, said the ground shaking caused varying levels of damage to school facilities and disrupted educational activities.
According to Philippines News Agency, of the 324 classrooms, 28 were totally damaged, 77 had major damage, and 219 had minor damage. "Immediate response and assessment actions were undertaken to ensure the safety of students, staff, and school facilities," Calzita told the news agency.
The DepEd is eyeing the completion of the full damage assessment within this week, Calzita noted. Schools are also expected to submit funding requests to DepEd and local government units. "Our instruction to schools is to establish temporary learning spaces if necessary so as not to disrupt classes," Calzita added.
The magnitude 5.8 quake struck 10.01 km southeast of the municipality of San Francisco. Southern Leyte and its neighboring provinces experience earthquakes as they are situated in one of the seismically active regions in the archipelago, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
