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World News

Philippines: the day the earth moved

‘I grabbed my six-year-old and we were all screaming and praying for God’s grace. I saw our walls falling down, then we ran out.’ Dalia’s tears began to slip down her cheeks as she re-lived the terrifying morning of 15 October 2013. The 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck the Philippines island of Bohol.

Debbie Meroff

Figure Image
Pastor Hilario Celis in the ruins of his earthquake-shattered church

‘We stayed in an evacuation centre for two, almost three weeks, then in a tent. When we went back to check the church we found it destroyed. We still sleep in the tent but we’ve put it inside a small bamboo hut that we built during the rains. When people ask me, ‘how can you smile?’ I say I smile because I am alive! That’s something to thank God for.’