Deadly 6.9 magnitude earthquake strikes central Philippines
A powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck the central Philippines late Tuesday, killing people at a sports arena and raising fears of considerable destruction.
The earthquake struck around 10 p.m. local time, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), only around 10 kilometers (6 miles) underwater, just west of Palompon in the Philippines and close to the city of Bogo in Cebu province.
A quake of this strength in the region could cause casualties and damage to poorly built structures, early survey models suggest.
Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, said in a telephone interview that at least 13 people, including three members of the Philippine Coast Guard and one firefighter, died in the town of San Remigio when a sports complex collapsed during a basketball game.
Red Cross paramedics treated at least 60 people for injuries in three provinces, he said.
“Some churches partially collapsed, and some schools had to be evacuated,” Gordon said. “This was a sleeper,” he said of the late-night quake. “It crept up on us.”
Footage shared on social media from Cebu province showed a fire breaking out at a mall due to the earthquake, as well as a badly damaged McDonald’s. Beauty pageant contestants were seen in another video running off the stage as the earthquake started.
The Philippine Red Cross said there were reports at schools in Cebu of debris, cracks in buildings and a temporary power failure.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), which recorded multiple aftershocks close to the epicenter in the hours after the initial earthquake, canceled a tsunami alert for the Leyte, Biliran and Cebu provinces early Wednesday local time.
A minor eruption from the country’s Taal volcano, about 70 km (45 miles) south of central Manila, was also recorded by Phivolcs. It stated that the eruption produced a 2,500-meter-high plume that drifted northwest, but the alert level remains at Level 1.
More than half a million people felt very strong shaking across the Visayan Islands, which include Cebu, Biliran and Leyte in the central Philippines, according to estimates from USGS.
Video shows moment 6.9-magnitude earthquake strikes Philippines, prompting tsunami warning
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