At least six people were killed and more than 120 were injured in a powerful night time earthquake in southern Philippines, as on Tuesday morning Philippines officials combed through cracked buildings looking for more casualties.
The earthquake was measured 6.5 in ‘Richter scale’ that roused residents from their sleep in Surigao del Norte province.
Renato Solidum of the Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology said, the earthquake was centered about 14 km northwest of the provincial capital of Surigao at a relatively shallow depth of 10 km.
The officials said about 100 aftershocks were felt, Evacuation centers accommodated many residents overnight, but many of them returned by Saturday morning.
Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo said, adding officials were continuing to assess the damage in Surigao city and outlying towns.
Solidum said that the earthquake was set off by a movement in a segment of the Philippine fault, which sits in the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where quakes and volcanoes are common.
Gonzales said via telephone that rescuers pulled out a man, who was pinned down by a collapsed wall in his house, but he died and was no longer brought to a hospital."
Television footages showed the facade of a number of buildings heavily cracked, windows of the buildings shattered with canopies and debris falling on parked cars on the street below.
Rescuers in one of the building were trying to break a collapsed concrete slab to check if there were people pinned underneath.
Cracks were visible on the roads in the coastal city and a bridge was collapsed in an outlying town.
Poknoy village in the city with a population of 140,500 was checked by the Rescue team for possible casualties.
Gonzales said airports were temporarily closed due to crack in the runway, the aviation officials said that a major port in Lipata district was also closed, while engineers were checking the stability of an access road.
The last major earthquake that hit Surigao was in the 1800s and in 1990 7.7 earthquake on the northern island of Luzon killed nearly 2,000 people.
US may ask social media passwords from Visa applicants
AMandeep
