Quake Jolts Central Philippines; 4 Hurt, Buildings Damaged
A strong earthquake shook the central Philippine island of Mindoro before dawn today, injuring at least four people and damaging many buildings, officials and witnesses said.
A local radio station said a 63-year-old male resident of the Mindoro town of San Jose, apparently the hardest-hit area, suffered a heart attack and died moments after the 4:21 a.m. earthquake.
Seismologists in Manila, 160 miles north of the affected area, said the tremor measured 5.4 on the Richter scale and was followed by repeated aftershocks.
The Philippine National Red Cross said the only confirmed casualties were a woman and three children who were injured when a wall collapsed.
DZYM radio announcer Nathan Cruz said that the earthquake caused a fissure on the town’s outskirts near the coast and that the sea level rose by at least five feet shortly after the temblor. The water quickly receded, he said.
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