(MENAFN- Live Mint) A powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck Cebu, Philippines , during the Miss Asia-Pacific International 2025 Gala Night. A video of beauty pageant contestants reacting to the tremor quickly circulated online, capturing the shocking moment.

Watch the video here:

As of Thursday, the death toll from the earthquake has risen to 72, with hundreds injured and thousands displaced, according to rescue officials.

Despite the chaos, organizers confirmed the safety of all participants.“Following the 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Cebu, we would like to assure everyone that all Miss Asia Pacific International 2025 candidates and the MAPI Organisation team are safe and well,” read a statement posted to Instagram.

TOPSHOT - A man rides a bicycle past a collapsed building where three missing people were found dead among the rubbles in Bogo City, Cebu province on October 2, 2025, in the aftermath of a 6.9-magnitude quake that struck off the coast of the central Philippines late September 30. The death toll from a powerful earthquake in the central Philippines rose to 72 on October 2, rescuers said, as officials turned their efforts to the hundreds injured and thousands left homeless. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)
This photo shows the damages outside the Archdiocesan Shrine of Santa Rosa de Lima in Daanbantayan, Cebu, Philippines Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, after an offshore earthquakeon late Tuesday. AP/PTI(AP10_01_2025_000262A)

The group also praised their venue, saying,“We extend our deepest gratitude to Radisson Blu Cebu for their swift and professional response in implementing safety measures during the tremor.”

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Rescue efforts continue across the region as officials work to support survivors and assess the full extent of the damage.

Rescue operations underway

escuers in orange and yellow hard hats used spotlights, a backhoe and bare hands to sift through the rubble of concrete slabs, broken wood and twisted iron bars for hours in a collapsed building in Bogo city.

No survivor was found.

“We're still in the golden hour of our search and rescue,” Office of Civil Defence deputy administrator Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said in a Wednesday morning news briefing in Manila, the country's capital.“There are still many reports of people who were pinned or hit by debris.”

The earthquake occurred at a dangerously shallow depth of 5 kilometres (3 miles) and was centred about 19 kilometres (12 miles) northeast of Bogo, a coastal city of about 90,000 people in Cebu province, where officials reported about half of the known deaths, AP reported.

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The Philippine government is considering whether to seek help from foreign governments based on an ongoing rapid damage assessment, Alejandro said.

Matmo storm edges closer to Philippines

Tropical Storm Matmo edged closer to the Philippines on Thursday, with forecasters warning it could intensify into a typhoon and potentially threaten southern China by the weekend, AP reported.

Matmo, packing sustained winds of 65 kph (40 mph), is moving west-northwest at around 22 kph (13 mph) and is expected to approach Luzon, the country's most populous island, by Friday, according to Hong Kong's observatory.

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We extend our deepest gratitude to Radisson Blu Cebu for their swift and professional response in implementing safety measures during the tremor would like to assure everyone that all Miss Asia Pacific International 2025 candidates and the MAPI Organisation team are safe and well.

The Philippine weather agency said the storm could make landfall over southern Isabela or northern Aurora province and cross northern Luzon thereafter.

(With inputs from AP)

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