Philippines calls off search for missing after quake and landslides

Feb 17, 2012, 8:41 GMT

Manila - Philippine authorities on Friday called off search and rescue operations for 63 people still missing in landslides caused by a magnitude-6.9 earthquake last week.

Fifty-one people were killed in the quake that struck the central Philippines on February 6. All casualties were from Negros Oriental province, 570 kilometres south of Manila, which suffered the most damage.

Civil defence chief Benito Ramos said one body was found on Friday in the village of Solonggon in La Libertad town, where 37 people were still missing after it was hit by a landslide.

Twenty-six people were missing in the village of Planas in Guihulngan City.

'The decision is to terminate the search and rescue and retrieval operations by 5 pm (0900 GMT),' he said. 'The people have accepted it and the local authorities will be setting up a memorial site in the locations.'

Ramos said the missing would be proclaimed dead after one year, in accordance with Philippine law.

The quake damaged more than 14,000 houses, forcing residents to stay in evacuation centres or makeshift tents in the streets. It also caused damage to roads, bridges and public buildings at an estimated cost of 383 million pesos (9 million dollars).

The Philippines, located along the Pacific Ring of Fire, suffered its worst earthquake in 1990 when a 7.7-magnitude tremor killed nearly 2,000 people on the northern island of Luzon.