President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assures that there is no critical problem in food and shelter in the areas affected by the magnitude 6.4 earthquake that rocked the provinces in Northern Luzon on Tuesday night.

"We do not have a critical problem when it comes to food and shelter. That is the most important part of the relief that we have to provide now for the people affected by the earthquake last night," Marcos said during an interview with reporters following the National Information and Communications Technology Summit 2022 in Manila on Wednesday morning.

Marcos said based on the last report he received the schools in the affected areas were closed while the government is working to restore the electricity in the affected areas.

"The schools have closed for the day until we were able to ensure the safety of all the school buildings for the children. So that was the first concern. The other concern right now is to make sure that power has come back," he said.

"In Ilocos Norte, the power has come back. Ilocos Sur, the power has come back. I’m waiting for the report from Abra. I think parts, the last I heard, the last parts of Abra province have already had power restored," he added.

Marcos also mentioned that most people in the areas hardly hit by the earthquake are asking for tents as they are afraid of going back to their houses because of possible aftershocks.

"So we have sent… Most of them are asking for tents. And the reason why is because they are scared of going back to their houses due to possible aftershocks and if their house is weak they might get hurt," he added.

The magnitude 6.4 earthquake, which was earlier reported as magnitude 6.7, whose epicenter was located seven kilometer northeast of Lagayan in Abra has a depth of 13 kilometers.

The Philippine Institute and Volcanology and Seismology noted possible damage and aftershocks from the quake tectonic in origin. Robina Asido/DMS