7.7 Earthquake Hits Philippines; 88 Die; Many Are Trapped

A major earthquake rocked Manila and surrounding Luzon island today and officials reported at least 88 people killed and scores of buildings destroyed.

More than 130 others were injured. Hundreds were believed trapped under the rubble of crumbled buildings, including 150 reportedly trapped in the Hyatt Hotel in the mountain resort of Baguio.

The death toll was expected to rise as rescue operations proceeded.

The quake struck about 4:30 p.m, and the Institute of Seismology and Vulcanology said it was centered just south of Cabanatuan, a city of 80,000, 60 miles north of Manila.

The U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colo., registered the quake at 7.7 on the Richter scale. The June 21 earthquake in Iran registered between 7.3 and 7.7 and killed at least 40,000 people.

There were scores of aftershocks.

The Office of Civil Defense said the six-story Philippine Christian College collapsed in Cabanatuan.

The office said at least 30 people were killed in Cabanatuan and outlying areas. Officials there said hundreds of students were unaccounted for, but it was uncertain how many were in the building when it collapsed.

In Baguio, 110 miles to the north of Manila, portions of several luxury hotels collapsed. The Manila radio station DZRH said 150 people were trapped in the Hyatt Hotel. A woman who identified herself as a public relations officer of the hotel said most of those trapped were in the casino.

Officials in Baguio appealed for heavy equipment and for blood, which they said was in short supply.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Stanley Schrager said medical supplies had been sent to Baguio by helicopter.

Air Force Master Sgt. Dan Fuller, reached by telephone at the U.S.-run Camp John Hay in Baguio, said the city was without electricity and that damage was widespread.

“We’ve had structural damage here on base,” he said. “We do have seven buildings downtown, which, as far as we know, they are completely fallen in.”

He said U.S. personnel assisted in rescue efforts.

The Red Cross reported five dead in Baguio but feared that the toll could go much higher. The Red Cross reported four dead in the northern province of Pangasinan.

One person died of injuries in Manila, where the temblor cracked buildings, knocked out electricity and communications and sent thousands fleeing into the streets. One fire broke out in the city’s Santa Cruz district.

The temblor knocked several radio stations temporarily off the air. Stop lights in Manila were knocked out of service, creating huge traffic jams.

A radio station in Dagupan, 100 miles north of Manila, said 13 people were killed there, but the report could not be confirmed. It said all died in stampedes as panic-stricken people tried to flee a movie theater and schools.

Officials reported widespread damage throughout Luzon, where many towns and cities were without power.

Radio station DZRH quoted an affiliate station as saying a church in the northern province of Ilocos Sur collapsed.

President Corazon Aquino ordered the military to launch an island-wide rescue operation. Her spokesman, Adolf Azcuna, said the president was meeting senators in her office when the quake struck, and she took cover under a table.

A quake measured at 7.8 struck the Philippines in 1976, killing 8,000 people. Most of them died in a tidal wave which struck the southern island of Mindanao.