MANILA - A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck
off the coast of the central Philippines on Monday, killing at least seven
people and causing widespread panic in cities where buildings shook violently.
The powerful quake hit in a narrow strait
between the heavily populated island provinces of Negros and Cebu, leaving
fissures on roads, damaging bridges, and shutting down the power supply,
officials said.
In Cebu city, a popular tourist destination,
hotel guests scrambled to higher floors as unfounded rumours of a huge tsunami
heading to the metropolis of 2.3 million spread on mobile phone text messages.
Among the casualties were two elementary school children who were crushed to
death by collapsed walls.
“They are all victims of collapsed walls and
fences,” Civil Defence Chief Benito Ramos said of the seven killed.
A three-storey building in Negros also
collapsed, while huge cracks appeared on highways and at least seven bridges,
rendering them impassable, local authorities said.
Ramos said the violent shaking of buildings in
Cebu city – 50 kilometres (31 miles) from the epicentre – led to broken windows
and cracks on some walls, but no high rises were believed to have sustained
major damage.
Local residents said there was panic in the
country’s second-biggest city, but there were no immediate reports of
casualties or major damage there.
“There is news going around of tsunami waves,
so we are doing our best to keep everybody calm,” Barbi Patino, a spokesman for
the 17-story Parklane International Hotel in Cebu told AFP.
“We are completely safe inside the hotel, but
we could see people on the streets now rushing away from the area.”
Pedro Baldomino, a student in Cebu, said he
saw many office workers in downtown Cebu leaving their buildings after a public
announcement on radio warned people to brace for expected aftershocks.
“I was having lunch when the ground shook.
Water spilled from glasses and plates clanked. Some of the diners rushed
outside, some of us stayed underneath the tables,” he said.
Philippine government seismologists earlier
raised a precautionary tsunami alert over the quake, but lowered it two hours
later.
“While the threat of immediate danger appears
to have passed, we urge the people in affected areas to remain watchful and
calm, and to cooperate with the authorities,” the presidential palace said in a
statement.
The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning
Centre said there was no danger of a widespread destructive tsunami.
The Philippines sits on the Pacific “Ring of
Fire” – a belt around the Pacific Ocean where friction between shifting
tectonic plates causes frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.
A 6.2-magnitude aftershock struck the central
Philippines on Monday, the US Geological Survey said, hours after the initial
quake hit killing at least 14 with 29 feared missing.
The strong aftershock hit at a depth of 35
kilometres (22 miles), 59 kilometres north north west of Dumaguete on Negros
island.
AFP
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