20 reported killed as magnitude 7.2 quake hits island in Philippines
MANILA — A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck in the central Philippines on Tuesday morning, killing at least four people and collapsing and damaging several buildings, radio reports and officials said.
[Updated at 10:10 p.m. on Oct. 14: Civil defense officials later raised the death toll to 20, saying 15 of the deaths occurred in Cebu province, an urban and densely populated island near the epicenter.]
The quake was centered 35 miles deep below Carmen town on Bohol Island and was felt across the region.
Radio station DZMM quoted civil defense officials as saying that four people died when part of a fish port collapsed in nearby Cebu city, across the strait from Bohol.
The roof of a market in Mandaue in Cebu province also collapsed, injuring 19 people, according to TV reports. People rushed out of buildings and homes, including hospitals as aftershocks continued.
Photos from Cebu broadcast on TV stations showed a fallen concrete two-story building, and reports said two people were pulled out alive, including an 8-month-old baby.
Bohol Gov. Edgardo Chatto said a church was reported damaged and a part of the City Hall collapsed in the provincial capital, Tagbilaran. One person reportedly was injured.
Earthquakes are common in the Philippines, which lies along the Pacific “Rim of Fire.”
Cebu province, about 350 miles south of Manila, has a population of more than 2.6 million people. Nearby Bohol has 1.2 million people and is popular among foreigners because of its beach and island resorts.
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