69 killed as massive 6.9-magnitude quake hits Philippines; over 150 injured
THE death toll from the 6.9-magnitude earthquake that struck central Philippines climbed to 69 on Wednesday, with over 150 people injured, local officials told news agency Reuters. The count could rise as rescuers dig through more collapsed buildings, they warned.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake’s epicentre was located about 17 km (10 miles) northeast of Bogo, a coastal city of around 90,000 people in the tourist hotspot of Cebu province. The earthquake was triggered by a local fault line and caused significant structural damage across towns and villages.
Bogo, one of the hardest-hit areas, reported at least 14 deaths. A landslide in a mountain village buried a cluster of shanties, leaving rescuers struggling to move through the hazardous terrain. The local hospital was "overwhelmed" due to the inflow of casualties, authorities said.
In the nearby town of San Remigio, six people were confirmed dead, including three coast guard personnel, a firefighter, and a child, according to Vice Mayor Alfie Reynes. Speaking to DZMM radio, Reynes appealed for urgent relief supplies.
“Our water system has been damaged, and we need food and clean water for our residents,” Reynes said.
Witnesses in Bogo described intense shaking that left walls, homes, and roads cracked and damaged. Firefighter Rey Caete recounted how he and colleagues were caught off guard by the tremors.
“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,” Caete said. He added that a wall of their fire station collapsed, injuring several residents and firefighters.
Hundreds of residents were too frightened to return to their homes and instead gathered in an open grassy field overnight. Authorities reported damage to a number of business establishments and roads. The intense tremors also brought down a historic Roman Catholic church in nearby Daanbantayan.
Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro said authorities were still trying to assess the full scale of the destruction. “It could be worse than we think,” Baricuatro said in a Facebook video message.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology initially issued a tsunami warning after the quake, advising residents along coastlines in Cebu, Leyte, and Biliran to move inland due to the threat of waves up to 1 metre (3 feet).
Teresito Bacolcol, the institute’s director, later confirmed the warning had been lifted, with no unusual wave activity detected. The storm caused widespread flooding, uprooted trees, and left towns without power, forcing tens of thousands of residents into evacuation centres.
The Philippines, located on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” is among the most disaster-prone countries in the world, regularly experiencing earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and around 20 typhoons and tropical storms each year.
