LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — At least 45 people were killed after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the Philippines on Monday, leaving a trail of destruction across Southern Mindanao, the country’s second most populous region.
For Las Vegas local Almira, the disaster hit close to home. Her family’s house in the Philippines collapsed during the quake.
“And then, all of a sudden, I received a video from my nephew showing me, you know, the building collapsing,” said Rizza Ocop. “And I thought, wow, that was a violent earthquake. And then, a few minutes later, I received a picture from my brother that their house collapsed. And I felt so, so sad for them.”
Family forced to shelter in shed
Her family member described the moment the earthquake struck while preparing breakfast.
“So, I’m alone outside, I’m preparing for our breakfast and suddenly, it’s like boom, like that,” Ocop said. “Then I run inside our room to grab my baby. You cannot stand, you cannot walk because it’s so shaky, it shakes so wild like that. So, then I run, I have to crawl outside to save me and my baby.”
The family crawled to safety as the walls caved in.
“Then like in the blink of an eye, this house, it’s collapsed. So, it’s really so sudden,” Ocop said.
The home is now uninhabitable.
“It’s like totally damaged because it’s really, you cannot come inside, it’s really damaged,” she said.
The family, including a 2-year-old, is now sleeping outside in a shed.
“It’s raining, a massive rain, and all of our roofs are, you know, like, it’s showering,” she said. “We are wet, and we’re drenched. And we sleep, like, so cold, so cold. And in the morning, my baby’s coughing.”
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More than 2,000 aftershocks reported
The family says constant aftershocks have added to their trauma. More than 2,000 aftershocks have been reported, some as strong as 6.4 magnitude.
“Our children, they are, they, every time after shock’s time, they have nerves,” Ocop said. “They’re, they’re, they’re shaking. They’re crying.”
The family says it took more than a decade to build the home using savings from working abroad.
“And then, in just a blink of an eye, it’s become like this,” she said.
Limited government assistance
Almira Anderson says help on the ground is limited and resources are stretched. The family says they have received little government assistance.
“Mostly just a little bit of rice,” Ocop said.
Daily life has been upended, with businesses shut down and limited access to food.
“And I thought, nobody could ever recover from that, you know, given that life over there is already difficult to begin with,” Anderson said. “And, you know, my brother’s story is just one of the thousands of stories of families with the same situation. They’re going through the same situation right now. And they need help.”
Anderson says when disasters like this happens, help matters immediately and deeply. Funds donated go toward basic needs like food, clean water, shelter, medical care and rebuilding. It also gives families hope and reminds them they are not forgotten.
Officials say more than a dozen people are still missing and more than 25,000 have been displaced.
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