6 dead in major Philippines quake

Source: AFP | October 15, 2013, Tuesday |

Online Edition

At least six people were killed when a 7.1 magnitude earthquake destroyed buildings in and around one of the Philippines' major tourist hubs on Tuesday, authorities said.

Four people were confirmed dead at a fish market that collapsed in Cebu, the second most important city in the Philippines and a gateway to some of the country's most beautiful beaches, the local government said.

Another person was killed in a nearby market, while one child was killed in a stampede as people panicked to leave a building, Cebu governor Hilario Davide told ABS-CBN television.

"I was fast sleep when suddenly I woke up because my bed was shaking. I was so shocked, I could do nothing but hide under the bed," receptionist Janet Maribao, 33, told AFP.

"I was so scared, I could not even run out of the house. It was only 30 minutes later that we were able to leave the house."

The quake struck at 08:12 local time (0012 GMT) five kilometers (three miles) east of Balilihan, in the Bohol region of the archipelago, at a depth of 20 kilometers (12 miles), the agency said.

The town lies across a strait about 60 kilometers from Cebu.

Photos on social media showed extensive damage to old churches and modern buildings, including a university, while major roads had also been torn apart.

Patients streamed out of one of Cebu's major hospitals, which were damaged. Local media reported one floor of the building caught fire.

In the immediate aftermath of the quake, authorities were struggling to reach or contact damaged areas, with power lines as well as phone networks down, and a clear picture of the disaster had yet to emerge.

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6 dead in major Philippines quake

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