Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 17, 1990 TAG: 9007170246
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MANILA, PHILIPPINES LENGTH: Medium
Aftershocks continued today.
The Office of Civil Defense said Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos telephoned from the mountain resort of Baguio and said that about 80 people were killed there, including an estimated 50 at the Hyatt Hotel.
Ramos' figure was not included in the office's death count of 108. The office earlier reported 15 dead in Baguio, about 110 miles north of Manila. Reports said the Hyatt and three other hotels were heavily damaged, and nearly 1,000 people were believed trapped in damaged buildings.
Baguio radio station DZWT said 23 people were killed when the commerce building at the University of Baguio collapsed.
Reporters in Baguio said most of the 119,000 residents slept outdoors on the streets after the quake, which struck about 4:30 p.m. and measured 7.7 on the Richter scale.
Officials said the most-affected areas were Nueva Ecija province, which includes Cabanatuan, 60 miles north of Manila; Baguio area; and Dagupan on Lingayen Gulf, about 100 miles north of Manila.
Manila TV stations said local officials were woefully short of blood, medicine and rescue equipment in the nation's worst earthquake in 14 years.
President Corazon Aquino was meeting senators in her office when the quake hit and she took cover under a table, said her spokesman, Adolf Azcuna. She ordered the military to begin rescue operations and closed schools throughout the area today. She flew early today to Cabanatuan to inspect damage and console relatives of a school disaster.
The U.S. Embassy said an official of the U.S. Agency for International Development is missing and feared dead after the quake heavily damaged the Nevada Hotel in Baguio, where he and others were attending a symposium. The embassy refused to give his name.
U.S. officials said the Baguio injured were being transported to American military hospitals at nearby Camp John Hay and Clark Air Base.
Rescue efforts were hampered by poor communications and lack of equipment.
The Pentagon said it provided an Air Force C-141 transport plane to carry 16 civilian search and rescue personnel, four dogs and support equipment to assist in the hunt for survivors. Sarah Owen, of Blackburg, Va., and her Labrador retriever were part of the U.S. Disaster Team Canine Search and Rescue Unit, sponsored by ALPO petfoods, on its way to Manila.
Landslides blocked roads to Baguio and the airport was closed due to poor visibility and damage to the runway, officials said.
Much of the city was without power Monday night. Stoplights were knocked out of service, causing huge traffic jams.
by CNB