Cataingan, Masbate—At least one person was killed and 43 others were injured when a 6.6-magnitude earthquake shook the central Philippines on Tuesday, sending residents fleeing their homes and damaging buildings and roads.
The shallow quake struck southeast of Masbate Island in the Bicol region at 8:03 a.m., the US Geological Survey said.
"There are a lot of damaged houses," said Staff Sergeant Antonio Clemente in Cataingan, a town of about 50,000 people on the impoverished island several kilometers west of the epicenter in the Samar Sea.
"It was really strong."
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said President Duterte wanted to visit Masbate, but that would happen only if the Presidential Security Group would allow him to travel amid the pandemic.
“Surely, the President wants to visit the affected areas,” Roque told reporters, but the PSG would have to be consulted.
He said medical and financial assistance would be provided the victims.
Local radio station reporter Christopher Decamon said he saw emergency workers pull the body of a man from the rubble of a three-story house on the outskirts of Cataingan. The man's wife escaped unharmed.
The earthquake "was really strong. Our people were broadcasting at the time but they just ran out of the building," Decamon told AFP by telephone.
Police confirmed the death of the man, identified as Retired Police Col. Gilbert Sauro, who was buried beneath the rubble after his 3-story house collapsed, according to Masbate Police director Col. Joriz Cantoria. Sixteen people were also injured in the town.
In nearby Palanas, at least 27 people were injured after being hit by falling objects or when their motorbikes crashed as the ground moved in the town, Chris Adique, a municipal disaster officer, told DZBB radio.
None were in a critical condition, he added.
Search and rescue efforts were still under way in the region.
The quake struck as the archipelago battles surging numbers of coronavirus infections, with more than 164,000 cases and restrictions on movement that vary across the country.
A lockdown affecting a quarter of the population, including the capital Manila, will be eased today, Wednesday.
"These natural disasters are a part of our lives and we always recover," said Harry Roque, spokesman for President Rodrigo Duterte.
"People should not worry about getting relief assistance. They will be provided."
Palanas police chief Captain Alvin Guerina told AFP that several patients, including a pregnant woman about to go into labor, were evacuated from a hospital as a precaution in case of aftershocks.
So far, at least 24 aftershocks have been recorded by the Philippine seismology office, with the strongest registering at 3.8 magnitude.
A video posted on Facebook and verified by AFP showed light damage to a food market in Cataingan.
Overturned buckets and small fish were scattered on the ground and chunks of cement had fallen from a pillar. People stood outside on the street.
Philippine Red Cross chairman Richard Gordon tweeted photos taken by his colleagues showing buildings in Cataingan with corrugated iron roofs fallen in.
Other photos taken in nearby Uson town show a sealed road with a large crack across it.
The quake was felt hundreds of kilometers away.
In the city of Iloilo about 400 kilometers southwest of Masbate in the neighboring Visayas, residents ran out onto the streets. with Vito Barcelo and PNA