A strong earthquake jolted the central Philippines on Tuesday night, sending frightened people into the streets, damaging buildings and roads and killing at least six people, according to officials and news reports.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology reported that the 6.9-magnitude earthquake shook the province of Cebu, home to 3.2 million people, just before 10 p.m. local time. It was followed by a series of smaller aftershocks.
The municipality of Medellin reported on its Facebook page that one person was dead and that “many” others had been injured. In addition, it said, a water tank had collapsed and several bridges were not passable.
Five people in the town of San Remigio have been confirmed dead, Capt. Jan Ace Elcid Layug, the officer in charge of the San Remigio police, said, according to ABS-CBN, a Filipino news outlet.
Four of the victims had been playing basketball in a sports complex that collapsed, he said. One of them was a member of the Bureau of Fire Protection and the three others were members of the Philippine Coast Guard, he said, according to ABS-CBN. The fifth victim in San Remigio was a child who was trapped in rubble in another location, he said.
Officials in San Remigio said on Facebook that they planned to declare a “state of calamity” because of the “widespread damage and disruption to the lives of our constituents.” The declaration, officials said, would help them mobilize resources for those affected by the earthquake.
The authorities announced that schools and government buildings in Cebu would be closed on Wednesday to allow for damage inspections.
The Archdiocese of Cebu said that churches had been “gravely affected” and should not be used to celebrate Masses until they had been inspected. Several appeared to have been badly damaged. Photos posted on the Facebook page of the Archdiocesan Shrine of Santa Rosa de Lima in Cebu showed that parts of the stone structure had collapsed into rubble.
Local news reports also showed photos of damaged fast-food restaurants and apartment buildings.
The authorities had warned of a “minor sea-level disturbance” after the earthquake and urged people to stay away from the shore, but later canceled the waring after the danger appeared to pass.
Earthquakes are common in the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands that straddles the “Ring of Fire,” a region in the Pacific where tectonic plates grind together. In November 2023, a 6.7-magnitude earthquake shook the southern Philippines, killing at least seven people and injuring hundreds.
In July 2023, a 7-magnitude quake killed at least four people in the northern Philippines. Several deadly earthquakes hit the southern Philippines in 2019, the strongest of which was a 6.9-magnitude quake that killed at least two people.
Aie Balagtas See contributed reporting.
Michael Levenson covers breaking news for The Times from New York.
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