Courtesy of Carla Carlos

Courtesy of Carla Carlos

MANILA (2nd UPDATE) - Clark International Airport in the former US military base in Pampanga province was damaged by the strong earthquake which rocked Luzon late Monday afternoon.

Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) President Jim Melo announced the airport's closure for 24 hours due to damage in its terminal.

"Operation is temporarily suspended except for enroute flights," he said on Monday night.

Photos posted on social media showed parts of the terminal's roof and walls suffering some damage from the 6.1 magnitude earthquake.

CRK Airport sitauation as of 6:50 pic.twitter.com/MU0QWPDTaz

— Lance Lauren (@lancelauren_) April 22, 2019

CRK Airport sitauation as of 6:50 pic.twitter.com/MU0QWPDTaz

— Lance Lauren (@lancelauren_) April 22, 2019

Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines, and AirAsia have canceled flights to and from Clark. The quake has also shut down railways in Metro Manila.

'NO DAMAGE'

Construction and engineering firm Megawide Construction Corp. and GMR said the new terminal at Clark airport didn't sustain structural damage.

"We would like to clarify that the structure shown in these photos is not part of the MEGAWIDE GMR project site in the New Passenger Terminal Building (PTB) of the CIA," it said in a statement.

"Immediately after today's earthquake, MEGAWIDE GMR conducted an emergency inspection of its project site in the new PTB. There is no visible damage to the permanent works, including structure. The inspection was conducted before nightfall."

The consortium it said will conduct a thorough inspection Tuesday morning and will reconnect power once site has been deemed safe.

The new terminal, which could triple the airport's capacity to more than 12 million passengers per year, is expected to be operational by 2020.