A strong 6.9 magnitude earthquake shook the central Philippines late Tuesday, killing at least 69 people and injuring dozens more.
The hardest-hit area was Cebu province, which placed itself under a state of calamity on Wednesday. Thousands of residents spent the night outdoors, fearful of the frequent aftershocks that followed.
One man from Cebu described how water and electricity were cut off, while the “traumatised” cries of children echoed around him.
The disaster comes just over a week after back-to-back typhoons claimed more than a dozen lives across the country.
Most of the fatalities occurred in Bogo city, a coastal town in the Visayas region near the quake’s epicentre. Streets were lined with body bags, while makeshift hospitals in tents cared for the injured. Local officials warned of “a lot of damage” and appealed for medical volunteers.
Collapsed bridges, cracked highways, and downed power lines have slowed emergency efforts and hampered communication.
Among the dead in Bogo were seven residents of a community originally built to shelter survivors of Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 6,000 people in 2013.
In San Remigio, the quake struck during a basketball match, sending nearly 20 spectators to the hospital. One later died from injuries.
Police and fire authorities said their focus remains on search and rescue operations, restoring electricity, and distributing aid.
Another aftershock, measured at magnitude 4.7, rattled Cebu and nearby Leyte on Wednesday night, though no new casualties were reported.
The archbishop of Cebu has urged worshippers to stay away from churches until engineers can check their stability. Cebu, one of the earliest islands colonised by Spain in the 1500s, is home to centuries-old churches, some of which were damaged. Video footage captured one historic church tower swaying before partially collapsing.
The national disaster office in Manila is tasked with confirming official casualty counts, a process that often takes time. Officials cautioned that the death toll could rise.
The Philippines sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a seismic belt where tectonic plates collide, making it prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity. The country also lies directly in the path of powerful Pacific typhoons each year.
Just last month, tropical storm Bualoi and typhoon Ragasa battered the country, leaving more than a dozen dead, forcing mass evacuations, and leaving several people still unaccounted for.
