More than 60 people have been killed in the Philippines after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake collapsed houses and nightclubs.
The magnitude-6.9 earthquake struck at about 10pm local time on Tuesday (3pm BST), leaving an unspecified number of residents trapped in collapsed homes, nightclubs and other businesses in the hard-hit city of Bogo and outlying rural towns in Cebu province, officials said.
Rescuers scrambled to find survivors on Wednesday. Army troops, police and civilian volunteers backed by digging equipment and sniffer dogs were deployed to carry out house-to-house searches for survivors.
The epicentre of the earthquake, which was set off by movement in an undersea fault line at a dangerously shallow depth of three miles, was about 12 miles north-east of Bogo, a coastal city of about 90,000 people in Cebu province, where about half of the deaths were reported, officials said.
The death toll in Bogo was expected to rise, according to officials, who said intermittent rain and damaged bridges and roads were hampering the race to save lives.
The Philippine government is considering whether to seek help from foreign governments based on an ongoing rapid damage assessment, officials said.
Workers were trying to transport a backhoe to hasten search and rescue efforts in a cluster of shanties in a mountain village hit by a landslide and boulders, Bogo city disaster-mitigation officer Rex Ygot said.
‘It’s hard to move in the area because there are hazards,’ said Glenn Ursal, another disaster-mitigation officer, who added that some survivors were brought to a hospital from the mountain village.
Villages mourn the death of their relatives after the earthquake. It has been reported that more than 70 people died after the 6.9 magnitude tremor struck
Rescuers search for three residents who were trapped in the rubble in the early hours of Wednesday
Several people across the area were left injured, leaving hospitals overwhelmed
Deaths also were reported from the outlying towns of Medellin and San Remigio, where three coast guard personnel, a firefighter and a child were killed separately by collapsing walls and falling debris while trying to flee to safety from a basketball game in a sports complex that was disrupted by the quake, town officials said.
The earthquake was one of the most powerful to batter the central region in more than a decade, and it struck while many people slept or were at home.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology briefly issued a tsunami warning and advised people to stay away from the coastlines of Cebu and the nearby provinces of Leyte and Biliran due to possible waves of up to three feet.
No such waves were reported, and the tsunami warning was lifted more than three hours later, but thousands of traumatised residents refused to return home and chose to stay in open grassy fields and parks overnight despite intermittent rains.
Several people were also injured across Cebu province, with hospitals in Bogo overwhelmed by the influx of casualties.
San Remigio declared a state of calamity on Wednesday as officials appealed for urgent supplies and heavy equipment to help with the rescue operation.
Power cuts and communication breakdowns hit several towns in the aftermath of the tremor, further hampering search and relief efforts.
More than 600 aftershocks have rattled the region since the main quake, frightening residents and raising fears of more damage.
Bridges, roads and other infrastructure were also damaged, leaving some communities cut off and slowing the delivery of food, medicine and rescue teams.
A McDonald’s restaurant is destroyed after the earthquake. Several businesses were damaged in the aftermath
A road is left damaged in the aftermath of the earthquake in Bogo city
People gather to inspect a collapsed building after the earthquake killed dozens of people
The government said it may ask for international assistance once its rapid damage assessment has been completed.
The tremor struck at a depth of just three miles, a dangerously shallow level that scientists say intensified the shaking and destruction.
Seismologists recorded more than 611 aftershocks following the initial quake, keeping terrified residents on edge and hampering rescue operations.
Experts estimate that more than 4.2 million people across Cebu, Leyte, Masbate and Negros Occidental were exposed to strong shaking, with many communities suffering power cuts and communication blackouts after transmission lines tripped.
Officials said a number of heritage churches and public buildings were among those damaged, including the Archdiocesan Shrine of Santa Rosa de Lima in Daanbantayan.
Several bridges and key roads were also left impassable, isolating remote villages and slowing the delivery of aid and rescue teams.
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