10 students suffered anxiety attack amid Zamboanga quake

Photo from the Official Facebook page of Phivolcs-DOST

ZAMBOANGA CITY — At least 10 students of Universidad de Zamboanga were rushed to hospitals after they panicked and experienced shortness of breathing due to the magnitude 5.4 earthquake toward noon on Thursday.

Elmeir Apolinario, city disaster risk reduction and management officer, said the anxious students also figured in a stampede in the school as people scampered for safety.

“They were not injured; they panicked, got anxious, and experienced shortness of breathing,” Apolinario said. They were released after they had calmed down.

The local government’s disaster response office immediately dispatched four ambulances to the university.

Several schools reported that students evacuated due to the strong jolt.

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“It’s quite long and strong. We received reports from Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Zampen Polytechnic school, Southern City colleges. All students are properly accounted for,” Apolinario said.

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According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), the quake struck at 11:41 a.m. 32 kilometers northeast of Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte.

Engr. Rommel Allan Labayog, Phivolcs regional field officer here, said the quake was the strongest since the one that rocked this city two years ago.

The quake was felt as Intensity V in Zamboanga City but it also registered as Instrumental Intensity 4 here.