Death toll rises to 60 in Philippines earthquake (Ld)

Manila, Oct 1 (IANS) The death toll in the 6.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Cebu province in the central Philippines could reach up to 60, the Philippines' Office of Civil Defence (OCD) said on Wednesday.

There have been reports that "as many as 60 individuals perished from this earthquake," but the number of deaths is still subject to validation, Assistant Secretary Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro, the deputy administrator for the OCD, said in a press conference.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council initially reported that 26 people died from the quake, and at least 147 people were injured.

Alejandro said the OCD is still verifying the identities of the missing people, and they have been receiving reports that there are people still trapped in the debris.

The Cebu provincial disaster management office said it has recorded more than 60 deaths from the quake -- at least 30 of the fatalities were from the city of Bogo, the epicentre of the earthquake, 22 in San Remigio town, 10 in Medellin, and one in Tabuelan town.

The province of Cebu has declared a state of calamity, enabling the government, particularly local government units, to quickly access emergency funds (calamity funds) to provide relief and rehabilitation, as well as to impose measures such as price freezes on essential goods to protect affected residents, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology initially reported that a 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck Cebu province at 9:59 p.m. local time on Tuesday. The institute later revised the magnitude to 6.9, adding that the quake struck at a depth of 5 km, approximately 19 km northeast of Bogo City.

The tremor was also felt in many neighbouring provinces in the central Philippines, as well as some regions in the southern Philippines.

The Philippines sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a region prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.

--IANS

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