Around 200 tents have been set up on Saturday Bogo City in Cebu, considered the ground zero of magnitude 6.9 quake that struck last Tuesday evening, Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon said.

Dizon said he understood why residents are reluctant to return to their homes due to the aftershocks and trauma.

There have been at least 5,000 aftershocks felt in the area, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

Teresito Bacolcol, Phivolcs director, told a forum on Saturday that aftershocks would last for several weeks but he added these will decrease.

The PRC has brought about 2,500 family tents to be put up in several areas in Cebu. Each tent can accommodate a family of five persons and has blankets and other items for the comfort of the evacuees. DMS