At least 69 people died after a massive 6.9 magnitude earthquake hit the central Philippines province late Tuesday, damaging several houses and buildings, AFP reported citing rescuers. The intense shaking led to power outages, forcing residents to evacuate their homes into darkness, officials said. The earthquake’s epicentre, caused by movement along a local fault at a depth of five kilometres, was located approximately 19 kilometres northeast of Bogo, a coastal city with a population of about 90,000 in Cebu province. 14 killed in Bogo, 12 in Medellin townAt least 14 residents died in Bogo, disaster-mitigation officer Rex Ygot told The Associated Press by telephone. The death toll in Bogo is expected to rise as workers attempt to transport a backhoe to expedite search and rescue operations in a cluster of shanties in a mountain village affected by a landslide and boulders, he added. Glenn Ursal, another disaster-mitigation officer, told The Associated Press, “It’s hard to move in the area because there are hazards,” adding that some survivors were taken to a hospital. In Medellin town near Bogo, at least twelve residents, mostly from small families, died when they were struck by falling ceilings and walls of their houses, some while sleeping, Gemma Villamor, head of the town’s disaster-mitigation office, told The Associated Press. In San Remigio town, also near Bogo, five people, including three coast guard personnel, a firefighter and a child, were killed separately by collapsing walls while attempting to flee to safety from a disrupted basketball game, the town’s vice mayor, Alfie Reynes, told the DZMM radio network.Reynes appealed for food and water, stating that San Remigio’s water system was damaged by the earthquake.Buildings, roads shaken in Bogo quakeBesides houses in Bogo, the quake damaged a fire station and concrete and asphalt roads, firefighter Rey Cañete said. “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 cuts and bruises. A concrete wall in their fire station collapsed, he said. He and fellow firefighters provided first aid to at least three residents who were injured by falling debris and collapsed walls. Hundreds of terrified residents gathered in the darkness in a grassy field near the fire station and refused to return home hours after the earthquake struck in Bogo. Several business establishments sustained visible damage, and the asphalt and concrete roads had deep cracks, Cañete added. An old Catholic church in Daanbantayan town near Bogo was also damaged.‘I was in shock and in panic’The belfry of a church in Bantayan town square collapsed, leading to the collapse of a commercial building and a school in Bantayan, Cebu, the provincial government reported. Additionally, a fast food restaurant in Bogo sustained heavy damage. Martham Pacilan, 25, told AFP he was at the Bantayan town square near the church when its belfry collapsed. “I heard a loud booming noise from the direction of the church then I saw rocks falling from the structure. Luckily no one got hurt,” he said. “I was in shock and in panic at the same time but my body couldn’t move, I was just there waiting for the shake to stop.” Agnes Merza, a 65-year-old carer based in Bantayan, reported that her kitchen tiles had cracked. “It felt as though we would all fall down. It’s the first time I have experienced it. The neighbours all ran out of their homes. My two teenage assistants hid under a table because that’s what they were taught in the boy scouts,” Merza added.‘It could be worse than we think’: Cebu Governor Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro said that the extent of the damage and injuries in Bogo and surrounding towns in the northern section of the province would not be known until daytime. “It could be worse than we think,” he said in a video message posted on Facebook. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology briefly issued a tsunami warning and advised people to stay away from the coastlines in Cebu and the nearby provinces of Leyte and Biliran due to possible waves of up to one metre. Teresito Bacolcol, director of the institute, said the tsunami warning was later lifted as no unusual waves were detected. Cebu and other provinces were still recovering from a storm that struck the central region on Friday, leaving at least 27 people dead, mostly due to drownings and falling trees. The storm knocked out power in entire cities and towns and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.
