Most parts of Bohol will remain in darkness indefinitely.

This is after Leyte was rattled on Thursday afternoon by a 6.5-magnitude earthquake which may have caused a power transmission system to “trip off” and damaged power sources in the province.

According to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the quake possibly affected their 138-kV Maasin-Ormoc line which serves Bohol.

However, the NGCP will still have to verify the extent of the damage to their facilities in Leyte as result of the tremor, said the firm’s Visayas spokesperson Betty Martinez.

“We will give information what the damage is in the transmission side if there is any or if it only caused the tripping of the lines,” Martinez said.

The NGCP has not yet released information on when the province-wide power outage will end as Martinez noted that assessment of damages to transmission systems will start tomorrow.

“Power interruption will prolong through the night” as “full assessment of transmission facilities is still to be completed,” Martinez said.

For his part, Engr. Nolan Evangelista of Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) Bohol, said that the quake jolted parts of Visayas at 4:03 p.m. and centered eight kilometers southwest of Jaro town in Leyte.

The tremor hit at a shallow depth of two km. making it “destructive” while aftershocks and damages are to be expected, added Evangelista.

According to PHIVOLCS, the following areas were jolted by the powerful earthquake:

Intensity V – Tacloban City; Palo, Leyte; Cebu City

Intensity IV – Tolosa, Leyte; Sagay City, Negros Occidental; Burgos, Surigao del Norte

Intensity III – Bogo City, Cebu; Calatrava, Negros Occidental

Intensity II – Libjo, San Jose, Cagdianao, Dinagat Islands

Intensity I – Roxas City; La Carlota City; Negros Occidental