Hello,
Tragedy has hit the Philippines after a magnitude 6.9 quake struck the island, the deadliest to hit the country since 2013, with at least 72 people reported dead and dozens injured. Meanwhile a 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia.
The earthquake struck in waters near the island of Cebu in the central Philippines late on Tuesday. Rescue teams searched for survivors in mud and rubble while authorities urged help for hospitals inundated with the injured after the deadliest earthquake in more than a decade.
Authorities said they feared the eventual toll would be even higher from the shallow 6.9-magnitude earthquake, which struck in waters off the central holiday island of Cebu.
Over in Indonesia, rescuers battled to extricate students from the rubble of a school under construction that collapsed and killed at least six in the province of East Java.
The Southeast Asian archipelago is one of the most seismically vulnerable countries on the planet, often experiencing more than 1,000 quakes a year. Also on my radar today: |
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A drone view of rescue workers conducting a rescue operation at a collapsed building in the aftermath of a magnitude 6.9 quake in Bogo, Cebu, Philippines. REUTERS/ Adrian Portugal |
Let’s first look at what happened in the Philippines.
Bodies covered in black sheets were carried on stretchers and placed side-by-side on the ground outside a hospital in Bogo, the worst-affected city, along the coast about 18 km (11 miles) from the epicenter.
A man wept as he pulled back a plastic sheet and clutched the face of a dead relative. Civil defence teams were searching for signs of life beneath a landslide that had killed at least 14 people in the city. "As much as I would want to say there's no more fatalities, the toll could still go up," Cebu provincial information officer Ainjeliz Orong said of the landslide. The Cebu quake was the country's deadliest since at least 2013, when a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck the neighboring island of Bohol, killing 222 people. The Philippines sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" and experiences more than 800 quakes each year.
The island was also still reeling from last week’s Tropical Storm Bualoi and Super Typhoon Ragasa. |
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Indonesia quake complicates school rescue |
Over in Indonesia, an earthquake struck the region of Sumenep, about 200 km (124 miles) from a school which had collapsed the day before. The quake injured three people and damaged dozens of homes, authorities said. The magnitude 6.5 quake complicated the rescue work at the school by narrowing the room for manoeuvre, said Emi Frizer, an official of Indonesia's search and rescue agency.
Three weeks ago, deadly floods on the Indonesian island of Bali killed 14 people, blocked major roads, including access to the island's international airport, and caused landslides in some areas. |
Crew interacts from aboard a boat, part of the Global Sumud Flotilla aiming to reach Gaza to break Israel's naval blockade, off Koufonisi islet, Greece. REUTERS/Stefanos Rapanis |
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Pope Leo smiles as Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks during a conference on "Raising Hope for Climate Justice" in Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, Italy. REUTERS/Yara Nardi |
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