ILOILO CITY, Iloilo, Philippines — The strong earthquake that hit the Visayas Monday slightly damaged buildings here.

The six-storey Iloilo Provincial Capitol had several cracks on the wall its ground floor, just above the portraits of Iloilo governors.

The new seven-storey Iloilo City Hall reportedly also had cracks, although such reports were not confirmed by contractor FF Cruz & Co. Inc.—Freyssinet Filipinas Corp., which has jurisdiction of the building. The office of several departments of the city government are now occupying the building.

Both Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. and Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog officially called off office hours after employees were evacuated from both the Capitol and city hall buildings.

Other prominent structures which sustained slight damage include the Iloilo Hall of Justice and Robinsons Place Iloilo mall.

Several hotels in the city, including Sarabia Manor Hotel and Convention Center, the Grand Dame Hotel and MO2 Westown Hotel were reportedly likewise slightly damaged.

The city’s two flyovers along Gen. Luna St. were temporarily closed from vehicular traffic to avoid incidents.

Meanwhile, as of press time, structural engineers of both the city and province of Iloilo continue to conduct ocular inspections of various buildings here to assess whatever damage there might be.