Philippines' Earthquake Death Toll Hits Sixty-Nine

(MENAFN) The death count from Tuesday night’s 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Cebu province, central Philippines, has surged to 69, the Philippines' Office of Civil Defense (OCD) confirmed Wednesday.

Assistant Secretary Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro, deputy administrator for the OCD, detailed casualties during a public briefing: “30 died in Bogo City, the epicenter of the earthquake, 10 in Medellin town, 22 in San Remigio town, five in Tabogon town, and one each in the municipalities of Sogod and Tabuelan.”

He added that the fatalities resulted from victims being crushed under collapsed walls of houses and buildings.

Initial reports from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) indicated at least 147 injuries, though Alejandro did not provide updated numbers on the injured or missing.

Search and rescue teams remain active, as authorities anticipate the death toll to rise with ongoing efforts to find survivors trapped beneath rubble. “We are waiting for our assessment team to complete their rapid assessment,” Alejandro said earlier.

In response, Cebu province has declared a state of calamity, a move that unlocks emergency funding for relief and recovery efforts and allows local authorities to implement measures such as price freezes on essential goods to support affected residents.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology first reported a 6.7-magnitude offshore quake at 9:59 p.m. local time Tuesday, later revising it to 6.9 magnitude. The quake struck at a shallow depth of 5 km, about 19 km northeast of Bogo City.

The seismic event was strongly felt in surrounding central Philippine provinces and parts of the southern Philippines. The institute has recorded over 600 aftershocks since the initial quake.

The Philippines lies within the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a seismic hotspot frequently impacted by earthquakes and volcanic activity.

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