Jane Lita Baquilta and her family lived in a house they thought would keep them safe from the natural disasters that frequently batter the Philippines. Instead, it became her grave.
Her husband, Jeffrey Crisostomo, 39, remembers the hope they felt when he and Ms. Baquilta, 38, moved in with their son and two daughters after being displaced by a typhoon in 2013. The house was part of SM Cares Village, a relocation site built for survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest ever recorded. It had destroyed their home in Sitio Tabla, a village on the island of Cebu, about 360 miles south of the capital, Manila.
“She was excited to move to that house because it was made of concrete, unlike our shanties here in the fields,” Mr. Crisostomo said.
The 6.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Cebu on Tuesday night reduced that promise to rubble. It killed at least 72 people, including Ms. Baquilta and two of the couple’s three children, and injured more than 200 people across northern Cebu. It rendered several hospitals unusable, disrupted water and power lines and damaged bridges and government offices. Some died in landslides. Others were crushed by the structures meant to protect them.
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