1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites

Philippines quake

February 7, 2012

Philippines authorities said as many as 43 people were killed when a 6.8-magnitude earthquake triggered landslides and collapsed houses. Search and rescue operations moved into Tuesday as some 40 people remained missing.

https://p.dw.com/p/13xiE
A large crack in a Philippino road following Monday's earthquake
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Rescue efforts were stepped up in the Philippines on Tuesday as the country reeled from a 6.8-magnitude earthquake that authorities said has claimed at least 40 lives and left some 40 others still missing.

The earthquake hit at 11:49 local time (4:49 CET) on Monday, triggering landslides and toppling buildings. The epicenter was about 70 kilometers (44 miles) north of the city of Dumaguete on Negros Island. Army troops and police were deployed to help in the rescue effort as some 240 aftershocks jolted the area.

In the mountain village of Planas in Negros Oriental province, some 30 houses were buried with at least 40 residents thought to be trapped. An unknown number of people were also trapped after a landslide hit the village of Solongon in La Libertad township, police chief inspector Eric Arrol Besario told the Associated Press news agency.

"Heavy equipment we've requested from the provincial government has not arrived yet, because the roads and bridges are impassable," said Senior Inspector Alvin Futalan. "We are using our hands and shovels to search in the rubble."

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology issued a level two tsunami alert in the wake of the earthquake, which it lifted hours later.

The Philippines is located on the "Pacific Ring of Fire", an area in the Pacific Ocean where shifting tectonic plates cause frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

dfm/ccp/ncy/msh (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)