IN NUMBERS: All that Cebu lost to disasters in 2025

The year 2025 was one marked by disasters, with major storms and earthquakes battering the country.

Cebu bore the brunt of these tragedies as successive disasters struck the province within the last few months of the year. Of all of them, it was a magnitude 6.9 earthquake and Typhoon Tino (Kalmaegi) that hit the province the hardest.

What has Cebu lost to disasters this year? 

The human toll

The magnitude 6.9 earthquake, felt throughout Central Visayas on September 30, originated from a previously unmapped offshore fault north of Cebu, affecting residents there the most. Typhoon Opong (Bualoi) had hit only five days earlier, worsening the earthquake’s impact. (READ MORE: 4 earthquakes caused by unknown faults in past decade: A cause for concern)

Barely a month since the tremor, Tino came and caused widespread destruction across the province on November 4, striking the central towns the hardest.

The two calamities disrupted the lives of more than a million Filipinos.

The earthquake claimed 81 lives, but the tropical cyclone was even deadlier, with 96 confirmed deaths and many more still missing, based on the latest data from the Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Office.

The September 30 earthquake is the second deadliest to hit the province in the last 15 years. The first is the magnitude 7.1 quake that struck neighboring province Bohol in 2013. It killed 12 people in Cebu and prompted the province to declare a state of calamity.

The September 30 earthquake is Cebu’s first major tremor in recent history.

Typhoon Tino, on the other hand, remains the deadliest storm of 2025 so far, claiming the lives of 253 individuals all over the Philippines.

It is currently the second deadliest tropical cyclone this decade after Typhoon Odette (Rai), which also devastated the province back in 2021.

Homes destroyed

Thousands of properties across Cebu were damaged or completely destroyed, leaving families displaced and struggling to recover.

After the earthquake, more than 60 families from the northern part of Cebu took refuge in a tent city, where aftershocks, inclement weather, and scarce resources made conditions unbearable.

Almost half a million persons in Cebu were displaced by Tino. Evacuees reported spending weeks in crammed and unsanitary shelters, often going without adequate food, clean water, and basic necessities.

Education

The education sector continues to reel from the impact of the disasters. Classes were suspended for weeks on end as schools served as evacuation centers. Many student organizations appealed for an early end to their semester, with one university complying with the request. 

Cleaning operations are still ongoing for some schools that, albeit caked in mud, remain upright.

Agriculture

Cebu’s agriculture and fisheries sector also took a heavy hit. The earthquake damaged many poultry and livestock facilities, while the tropical cyclone devastated tens of thousands of hectares of sugar and corn across the Visayas.

Aid

Many were quick to send sympathies and aid to those affected by both disasters, including foreign embassies and celebrities. With various groups eager to help, heavy traffic clogged roads going to far-flung parts of the province, causing delays in the delivery of aid and even accidents.

Still, it took days for relief to reach some areas, prolonging the suffering of many individuals.

Cebu’s road to recovery remains rocky. The province’s state of calamity, declared on the day Tino made landfall in Borbon, Cebu, remains in effect as of this writing. 

These numbers serve as a harrowing reminder of our country’s disaster risk and vulnerability and the hard work that must be done — by the government, industries, and communities alike — to protect our people before the next disaster strikes. – with reports from John Sitchon/Rappler.com