At least 69 people have been confirmed dead and dozens more injured after a powerful 6.9 magnitude earthquake rattled the central Philippines on Tuesday night, reports BBC.
The province of Cebu, which bore the heaviest destruction, declared a state of calamity early Wednesday, as thousands of residents camped out in the open amid a series of strong aftershocks.
A Cebu resident told BBC that electricity and water supplies had been cut off, while terrified children cried through the night. “Everyone is traumatised,” he said.
The disaster comes barely a week after successive typhoons battered the country, killing over a dozen people.
Most of the fatalities were reported in Bogo city, a small town located near the epicentre in the Visayas region.
Photos from the area show body bags lined up on streets while hundreds of injured people are being treated in makeshift field hospitals. Local officials warned that the scale of destruction was “massive.”
Authorities have appealed for medical volunteers as emergency services struggle with collapsed roads, damaged bridges, and downed power lines that have hampered rescue efforts.
Among the dead were seven residents of a relocation village built for survivors of Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the Philippines in 2013, killing more than 6,000.
In San Remigio municipality, a basketball game was underway when the quake struck. Nearly 20 spectators were injured and rushed to hospitals; at least one later died, officials said.
The national police and fire services have launched search and rescue operations, alongside efforts to restore electricity and distribute relief supplies.
By Wednesday evening, another tremor measuring 4.7 struck Bogo, shaking Cebu City and nearby Leyte islands, though no additional casualties were reported.
Cebu’s Archbishop has urged worshippers to avoid churches until engineers finish structural inspections. Earlier footage showed the bell tower of a centuries-old Catholic church swaying before partially collapsing.
The Philippines sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” making it highly prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. It is also hit frequently by typhoons that sweep across the region every year.
Last month, tropical storm Bualoi and typhoon Ragasa claimed more than a dozen lives, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands, with several people still missing.
