Philippines earthquake: Up to 60 dead and hundreds injured as 6.9-magnitude quake strikes
Up to 60 people are thought to have died after tremors from a strong earthquake caused devastation - with authorities declaring a “state of calamity”.
The offshore quake, which had a magnitude 6.9, led to house and buildings collapsing in a central province of the Philippines. The epicentre was 10 miles north east of Bogo, acoast city of about 90,000 people. It happened at 10pm local time on Tuesday - 3pm GMT.
It is in the Cebu province, which has a population of about a million.
Residents had to scramble out of their homes into darkness as the intense shaking cut off power, officials said.
Workers are trying to bring in a backhoe - a digging attachment for a tractor - to hasten search and rescue efforts in a cluster of shanties in a mountain village hit by a landslide and boulders, said disaster mitigation officer Rex Ygot.
The city of Bogo and other affected towns and municipalities have declared a “state of calamity” as they assess the damage caused by the quake