Updated 10:13 AM ET, Sun December 15, 2019
A six-year-old girl was among three people killed when a 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck the southern Philippines island of Mindanao on Sunday.
The girl was inside her family's house when the building collapsed and killed her, the province's governor, Douglas Cagas, told CNN.
Fire Service director Chief Superintendent Samuel Tadeo confirmed the three deaths and also said a market in Padada had collapsed.
The country's second-largest island is a popular tourist destination, and videos posted on social media showed hotel pools dramatically overflowing and mass evacuations of shoppers from malls.
Residents reported schools had been severely damaged -- luckily empty of students at the time, as the quake happened on a Sunday. Governor Douglas Cagas of the island's Davao del Sur province said a three-story building had also collapsed.
Classes have now been suspended for Monday, and bridges closed due to cracks, Davao city officials said.
The country's President Rodrigo Duterte was at his home in Davao, the largest city on the island, at the time of the quake, reported state-run Philippine News Agency (PNA). He was unhurt, although his house reportedly "sustained several cracks in the walls."
There were several aftershocks in nearby provinces, including a 5.0 magnitude, according to the US Geological Survey. It added that there was no tsunami threat, as the quake struck inland and not the water.
It's the latest in a serious of quakes to strike the island in recent months. In October another series of 6.6 and 6.5-magnitude quakes struck Mindanao, killing 14 and injuring more than 400.
BY
The quake is the latest in a series of tremors that have struck the region in recent months. Four powerful quakes in October and November left a total of 20 people dead.
"We don't know what to do anymore. Do we respond first or attend to our families first?" Anthony Allada, a public information officer for nearby Magsaysay Town, told Radio DZMM.
Allada said that the full extent of the damage is currently unclear, although power was out in the town. He noted that supplies of food, water, tarpaulins and blankets were needed.
Davao is the home of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. He was in the city when the quake struck but is reportedly unharmed.
In Padada—another town in Davao del Sur—a three-storey building collapsed while people were still inside, local authorities said. Superintendent Samuel Tadeo, the Bureau of Fire Protection operations chief, said an undetermined number of people are still trapped, Al Jazeera reported. A search and rescue operation is currently underway.
"I saw the building when it fell," local resident Leighton Angcan told Reuters. "It was the tallest here and it was really destroyed. I saw people running outside."
Fortunately, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has said that there is no tsunami threat as a result of the quake.
Nevertheless, several strong aftershocks have been recorded, including one north of General Santos City which had a magnitude of 5.7 on the Richter scale.
The Philippines lies on the "Ring of Fire"—a long, horseshoe-shaped, seismically active belt that extends around the Pacific Ocean basin. As a result it often experiences earthquakes.
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