Camping on Outdoor Spaces and Facing Challenges for Basics: Locals Cope with Quake Consequences
Several nights following a strength 6.9 seismic event shook her hometown in the central Philippines, Arguel Estalicas explains she still experiences unsteady whenever she stands up.
That whirling experience, combined with a series of tremors, has left the 35-year-old travel official and countless other victims too scared to return to their residences, obliging them to stay in makeshift accommodations temporarily.
The quake shook the upper coast of Cebu, one of the nation's most populous islands, on the night of 30 September, jolting many during their rest.
It caused the death of at least 72 persons and hurt 300 others, as houses, structures and religious sites fell down and roads fractured.
It's hard to grasp what has transpired to us. I am overcome with the situations we experienced in the past two days.
The 35-year-old resides in Medellin town, near the earthquake's epicentre. Disaster response authorities say the seismic event uprooted about 40,000 people all over Cebu, a major commercial and transit center in the heartland Philippines.
She said she exited bed screaming when the quake struck and hurried into the open with her family.
They slept under the night sky, but when a light drizzle fell, Ms Estalicas and her kin covered themselves up in polyethylene sheets because they did not have waterproof clothing.
Images on digital networks displayed them seated on temporary seats, wrapped in plastic bags fogged up by their exhalation.
Food, Hydration and Fuel Needed
The Philippines is susceptible to environmental catastrophes. It is situated on the tectonically volatile "Ring of Fire" - so called because of the high number of seismic events and volcanoes that happen here.
The Cebu earthquake on Tuesday is part of the most powerful and deadliest in recent years. In 2013, a 7.2-strength seismic activity in neighbouring Bohol island claimed the lives of over 200 people and wrecked historic churches.
On Thursday, relief personnel scoured through rubble as authorities strived to deliver supplies, reestablish energy and connectivity lines, and clear roads of rubble.
The Philippine defense forces has dispatched troops to aid keep stability during aid operations.
However, essential items continue to be a pressing problem for many.
Photographer Doods Demape chose on Thursday to make a extended journey from Medellin to the regional center to acquire goods since no grocery stores were functioning.
Mr Demape explains he had trouble to find a petrol station that was not flooded with long queues.
Most streets are now passable so supplies are now reaching from the urban center. But prompt provisions like drinking water and nourishment, particularly for the children are not yet available.
In Bogo city, the tremor's epicenter, regional news reports body bags lined on the road in front of improvised treatment centers where the hurt are being treated.
This current quake comes in the midst of a intense storm season. Two successive weather systems submerged large swathes of the nation a seven days before.
Broad inundations from those typhoons and previous rainy rains have stirred public anger and sparked public demonstrations.
Cebu is particularly prone to cyclones. It is located on the general trajectory of tempests that originate over the Pacific.
The island's northern region, the origin point of Tuesday's quake, was affected by Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. That weather event caused the death of over 6,000 persons in the whole central region.
Among the many structures damaged by Tuesday's seismic event was a housing project for affected individuals of Haiyan.
Despite their present difficulties, Cebu inhabitants like Ms Estalicas and Mr Pareja are optimistic that they could overcome the quake, as they did in the wake of Haiyan and the crises before it.
They explain affected individuals are assisting each other, what Filipinos call bayanihan or collective solidarity.
My main wish is that assistance won't be delayed - and that adjacent municipalities will also be considered and encompassed in these aid operations.
