The death toll from a magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck central Philippines has risen to 69, a civil defence official said on Wednesday.
Civil defence deputy administrator Raffy Alejandro said in a briefing that the number remains “fluid” as more reports come in from responders, reports Reuters.
The powerful offshore earthquake struck the central Philippines late Tuesday, collapsing homes and buildings, cutting off power, and leaving at least 69 people dead with dozens more injured.
The magnitude 6.9 quake hit at a shallow depth of 5 kilometres, with its epicentre located about 19 kilometres northeast of Bogo City in Cebu province, officials said. The city of 90,000 residents bore much of the devastation. Rescue crews were working overnight to reach survivors in a mountain village where landslides and boulders had buried shanties, reports agencies.
“We expect the death toll to rise. The area is dangerous because of loose soil and falling rocks,” said another disaster response official, Glenn Ursal.
In neighbouring Medellin town, at least 12 residents were killed when walls and ceilings collapsed on their houses while many were asleep, said municipal disaster officer Gemma Villamor.
Five more died in nearby San Remigio town, including three coast guard members, a firefighter and a child, who were struck by falling debris as they fled a basketball game disrupted by the tremor, Vice Mayor Alfie Reynes told local radio. Reynes appealed for food and water, saying the town’s water system had been damaged.
Rescue efforts were hampered by power outages across northern Cebu. Firefighter Rey Cañete described how he and colleagues stumbled to the ground as their barracks shook violently. Their station’s wall collapsed, injuring several residents. “We were preparing to rest when everything started to move. The shaking was so strong we couldn’t stand,” he told reporters.
Hundreds of frightened residents in Bogo gathered in an open field near the fire station and refused to return home hours after the quake. Several roads were cracked, and an old Catholic church in Daanbantayan town sustained visible damage.
Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro warned the full extent of casualties and destruction would not be clear until daylight. “It may be worse than we think,” she said in a video message.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology briefly issued a tsunami alert for Cebu, Leyte and Biliran, warning of possible one-metre waves, before lifting it after no unusual sea activity was recorded.
The quake struck as the region was still reeling from a tropical storm that killed 27 people on Friday. The Philippines sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is among the world’s most disaster-prone nations, facing frequent earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and as many as 20 typhoons each year.
