• Source:JND
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Philippines Earthquake Today: The death toll from a magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck central Philippines has risen to 60, a civil defence official said on Wednesday. Civil defence deputy administrator Raffy Alejandro said in a briefing that the number remains "fluid" as more reports come in from responders.

A powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake in the Philippines, a government official said, marking one of the country's most devastating disasters this year. The earthquake that struck off the coast of Cebu City in the Philippines' central Visayas region just before 10 pm on Tuesday led to power outages and damaged buildings in the region.

Alfie Reynes, vice mayor of the town of San Remigio, confirmed the death toll in an interview with DZMM radio. Another government official told Reuters by phone that at least 60 people have been reported dead in Cebu province, adding that verification is underway on the reported fatalities.

Houses collapsed after massive tremors

The earthquake was centred about 17 kilometres northeast of Bogo, a coastal city of about 90,000 people, where the intense shaking damaged concrete walls of houses and a fire station, knocked out power in the city and caused deep cracks on asphalt roads, firefighter Rey Canete 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 by telephone, adding that he and three other firemen sustained cuts and bruises.
A concrete wall in their fire station collapsed, Cañete said. He and fellow firefighters provided first-aid to at least three residents, who were injured by falling debris and collapsed walls, including an elderly man with head injuries who they took to a nearby hospital, he said and added that more residents may have likely been injured due to the intense shaking.

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 in Cebu province. Several business establishments visibly sustained damages and the asphalt and concrete roads where they passed had deep cracks, Cañete said, adding that an old Roman Catholic church in Daanbantayan town near Bogo was also damaged.

Extent of the damage is yet to be known: Governor

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. “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.”

Tsunami warning issued 

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology issued a tsunami warning and advised people to stay away from the coastlines in Cebu and in the nearby provinces of Leyte and Biliran due to possible waves of up to 1 metre . Teresito Bacolcol, director of the institute, told The AP that the tsunami warning was later lifted with no unusual waves being monitored.

Central Philippine provinces were still recovering from a storm that hit on Friday, leaving at least 27 people dead mostly due to drownings and falling trees, knocking out power in entire cities and towns and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.

The Philippines, one of the world's most disaster-prone countries, is often hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of seismic faults around the ocean. The archipelago is also lashed by about 20 typhoons and storms each year.

(With inputs from agencies)