Death toll in quake-stricken Sarangani rises to 28

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 11 June) – The death toll in Sarangani following Monday’s Magnitude 7.8 earthquake has risen to 28 as of 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 11, up by eight from 9 a.m. as more bodies were retrieved from landslide sites in Glan. 

Glan is the hardest hit town in Sarangani province. The quake registered Intensity VIII in this municipality.

According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), Intensity VIII is “very destructive.”  

Quake-triggered landslides caused the death of  20 residents in 12 barangays in Glan: three died in  Tango, two in E. Alegado, one in Tapon, two in New Aklan, one in Pangyan, one in Kapatan and two in Calpidong. The additional eight retrieved bodies: one in Burias, three in the Poblacion, one in Calabanit, one in Ilaya and two in Rio del Pilar. 

Malapatan reported eight deaths. 

^{A car passing by the highway near the welcome arch of Glan in Sarangani was nearly crushed by a landslide triggered by the Magnitude 7.8 quake at 7:37 a.m. on Monday, 08 June 2026. The driver survived. The vehicle was pulled out during the clearing operations on Wednesday, June 10. MindaNews photo by GREGORIO BUENO}

The total number of missing persons in the province is 9, down from 12 as of the 9 a.m. update. 

The number of injured rose to 157, from 150 as of 9 a.m. 

Communication was a major problem after the quake. The PDRRMO’s 6 p.m. status report  on Communications was the same as the 9 p.m. June 9 report: weak cellular network coverage caused delays in communication and coordination activities in Alabel and Malungon; intermittent cellular and internet connectivity in Maasim and Kiamba; no network coverage in Maitum; weak network coverage in Glan; internet connectivity restored in Malapatan. 

In the June 10 report, the Department of Information and Communications Technology had installed Starlink in Glan, Maasim and Malapatan towns to help the local government units send their updates. 

As more reports reached the PDRRMO from the towns, the numbers have also risen, except for the number of families in evacuation centers which dropped from 776 as of the 9 a.m. report, to 743 as of 6 p.m. 

The total number of affected families is now 54,005, up from 31,053 as of 9 a.m. 

There were 1,524 totally damaged houses as of 9 a.m. By 6 p.m. the consolidated report showed 3,567. The number of partially damaged houses as of 9 a.m. was 6,368. The total number reported as of 6 p.m. is 11,105. 

Assistant Secretary Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro in an update at 6 a.m. on June 11, said the office has recorded 75,324 families affected in 291 barangays across the regions of Zamboanga, Davao, Soccsksargen and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. He said 3,515 families are staying in 32 evacuation centers, while 7,279 families are staying outside evacuation centers.

He said the number of deaths is 47 and 688 were injured. A total of 31 missing individuals has been reported in the Davao and Soccsksargen regions. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)