An earthquake of magnitude 6.9 struck the central Philippines late on Tuesday, killing at least 60 people and injuring several others. The quake damaged buildings and forced residents to run out of their homes, officials said.
The epicentre of the earthquake was about 17 kilometres northeast of Bogo, a coastal city with nearly 90,000 people. The intense shock damaged concrete walls of homes and a fire station, created deep cracks on asphalt roads, and disrupted the power supply, firefighter Rey Cañete said.
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“We were in our barracks to retire for the day when the ground started to shake and we rushed out but stumbled to the ground because of the intense shaking,” Cañete told The Associated Press, adding that he and three other firemen sustained injuries.
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Cañete said a concrete wall in their fire station collapsed, after which he and other firefighters gave first aid to three residents, including an elderly man, who were hurt by the debris. He added that the elderly man had head injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital, and that more people may also have been injured.
Several shops and businesses were visibly damaged, and deep cracks appeared on the asphalt and concrete roads, Cañete said. He added that an old Roman Catholic church in Daanbantayan town, near Bogo, was also damaged.
Cebu Gov. Pamela Baricuatro said an unspecified number of houses and a hospital were damaged in the hard-hit city of Bogo and elsewhere and that emergency medical teams were being deployed to treat residents who were pinned and injured. The extent of the damage and injuries would not be known until daytime, she said.
Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro said several houses and a hospital were damaged in Bogo and nearby areas. Emergency medical teams were sent to treat residents who were trapped and injured. She added that the full extent of the damage and injuries would only be clear in the daytime.
“We're sending already a trauma team there, doctors and nurses are on the way,” Baricuatro told the DZMM radio network. ”We need medicine, food, medical teams.”
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology issued a tsunami warning, urging people in Cebu and the nearby provinces of Leyte and Biliran to keep away from the coast because waves could reach up to one metre.
However, the tsunami warning was later lifted with no unusual waves being monitored, Teresito Bacolcol, director of the institute, told The AP.