Additional Coverage:
Powerful Quake Rocks Philippines, At Least 69 Dead
Manila, Philippines – A devastating magnitude-6.9 earthquake struck a central Philippine province Tuesday night, claiming at least 69 lives and trapping an unknown number of residents in collapsed structures. The powerful tremor, which hit around 10 p.m., caused widespread destruction in the hard-hit coastal city of Bogo and surrounding rural towns within Cebu province.
Rescue teams, comprising army troops, police, and civilian volunteers, are working tirelessly through the debris, backed by heavy equipment like backhoes and sniffer dogs. Their efforts include house-to-house searches for survivors, with officials noting that roughly half of the reported deaths occurred in Bogo, a city of approximately 90,000 people.
The death toll is expected to climb as rescue operations continue. Intermittent rain and damaged roads and bridges are significantly hindering the race against time to save lives.
“We’re still in the golden hour of our search and rescue,” stated Office of Civil Defense Deputy Administrator Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV during a news briefing, emphasizing the urgency. “There are still many reports of people who were pinned or hit by debris.” The Philippine government is currently assessing damage to determine if international assistance will be needed.
In a mountain village, Bogo city disaster-mitigation officer Rex Ygot reported that workers are struggling to transport a backhoe to a cluster of shanties buried by a landslide and boulders. Another disaster-mitigation officer, Glenn Ursal, described the area as hazardous but confirmed that some survivors from the mountain village have been hospitalized.
Fatalities were also reported in the outlying towns of Medellin and San Remigio. Tragically, three coast guard personnel, a firefighter, and a child were among those killed by collapsing walls and falling debris while attempting to escape a basketball game disrupted by the quake in a sports complex.
This earthquake marks one of the most powerful to impact the central region in over a decade, striking while many residents were either asleep or at home.
Following the initial tremor, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology briefly issued a tsunami warning, advising residents to evacuate coastlines in Cebu and nearby Leyte and Biliran provinces due to potential waves up to three feet high. The warning was lifted more than three hours later after no such waves materialized. However, thousands of traumatized residents opted to spend the night in open fields and parks, fearing further tremors, despite ongoing rains.
The region was already reeling from a tropical storm just days prior, which had left at least 27 people dead, caused widespread power outages, and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands.
Schools and government offices in the quake-affected areas have been closed for safety inspections. Over 600 aftershocks have been detected since Tuesday night, raising concerns. Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology director Teresito Bacolcol warned that rain-soaked mountainsides are particularly vulnerable to landslides and mudslides in the aftermath of a major earthquake.
“This was really traumatic to people. They’ve been lashed by a storm then jolted by an earthquake,” Bacolcol remarked. “I don’t want to experience what they’ve gone through.”
The Philippines is situated on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of seismic faults, making it one of the world’s most earthquake and volcano-prone countries. The archipelago is also routinely hit by an average of 20 typhoons and storms annually.