The death toll due to the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that rocked Southern Mindanao last Monday climbed to 45, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reported on Wednesday.

OCD Deputy Administrator for Administration, Assistant Secretary Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said the number of missing individuals also rose to 17 while 630 other victims were injured.

Alejandro said the damage to infrastructure also reached P562.8 million while a total of 3,169 homes were affected, out of which 2,641 houses were partially damaged and 538 others were destroyed.

Report shows that 29 roads, 11 bridges, one airport and one seaport were affected by the tremor.

The number of affected families also increased to 35,673 or 149,372 persons, of which 41,437 individuals were displaced.

Alejandro noted that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr visited the affected areas on Wednesday "to personally assess the situation and provide guidance and help" to the people.

"All of our cabinet members and all the major agencies involved in response are now on the ground and pro-actively and actively participating in response operations," he said.

According to the Philippine Army, Its 18-member Urban Search and Rescue team is working to save survivors at a collapsed supermarket in Barangay Calumpang, General Santos City.

Col. Louie Dema-ala, Army's public affairs office chief said "the USAR team and responders from other government agencies navigated debris with enough precision to reach survivors who may be trapped in confined spaces."

"The Philippine Army is working closely with national government agencies and local government units to ensure the timely and coordinated search and rescue efforts in collapsed buildings in General Santos City which bore the brunt of infrastructure damage," he added. Robina Asido/PHS