A powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake jolted the central Philippines late Tuesday night, collapsing buildings and killing at least 19 people on the island of Cebu, authorities confirmed early Wednesday.
Rescuers are conducting an intense, ongoing search for survivors amid fears the death toll could rise, with recovery efforts hampered by darkness and hundreds of aftershocks.
The shallow quake struck at 9:50 pm (1359 GMT) off Cebu’s northern end near Bogo, a city of 90,000 people, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
The confirmed casualties include nine adults and four children killed in Bogo, three of whom died when their homes were buried in landslides, local rescuers told AFP. Five more deaths were reported in the nearby municipality of San Remigio, along with one in Tabuelan.
In San Remigio, four bodies were pulled from a collapsed sports center, including three coastguard members who were participating in a local basketball tournament at the time the roof gave way. A child was also crushed by debris in another area of the municipality.
The overnight recovery efforts faced significant challenges as the region was rocked by 379 aftershocks, reported the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. Additionally, a number of village roads sustained damage, complicating access for aid and rescue teams.
Provincial rescue official Wilson Ramos told AFP, “There could be people trapped beneath collapsed buildings,” citing rescue efforts underway in San Remigio and Bogo.
The Cebu provincial government issued an official call on Facebook for medical volunteers to assist in the aftermath of the disaster.
The quake caused widespread infrastructure failure, tripping power lines and leading to outages across Cebu and nearby central islands. Power was restored shortly after midnight in Cebu and four other major central islands, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines stated.
Eyewitnesses described the intensity of the tremor. From San Fernando town, firefighter Joey Leeguid recounted the experience: “We felt the shake here in our station, it was so strong. We saw our locker moving from left to right, we felt slightly dizzy for a while.”
In the resort town of Bantayan, Martham Pacilan, 25, was near a church when the quake hit. “I heard a loud booming noise from the direction of the church then I saw rocks falling from the structure,” 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.”
The provincial government reported severe damage across the region, including the collapse of a commercial building and a school in Bantayan, and heavy damage to a fast food restaurant in Bogo.
Cebu provincial governor Pamela Baricuatro urged residents via a live video message to “stay calm and move to open areas; keep away from walls or structures that may collapse and stay alert for aftershocks.”
The Philippines is situated on the seismically active Pacific “Ring of Fire,” making quakes a near-daily occurrence, though most are too weak to be felt. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center confirmed there was no tsunami threat from this event.
