The dramatic video from the car dashboard became viral, showing the moments when on Tuesday the central Philippines hit a strong earthquake of 6.9. The shots taken on the Cebu bridge show how many motorcycle riders stepped out of their vehicles and held on the bridge railing as the structure rocked. Passengers in the car heard in the alarm when the trembling intensified.
The earthquake led to the collapse of buildings and claimed at least 19 lives on the island of Ceba, the authorities soon stated on Wednesday. There are rescue operations, and officials fear that the number of victims can increase because teams continue to seek survivors.
Watch the video right here:
19 dead, look for missing
The shallow earthquake hit Tuesday at 21:50 (1359 GMT) from the northern end of the island near Bogo, a city with 90,000 people, according to American geological survey (USGS).
Nine adults and four children were killed in the bog, including three, whose houses were buried in land landslides, local rescuers AFP said.
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The local police in the nearby village of San Remigio confirmed five more deaths together with one in the Tabuelan.
Four bodies were pulled out of the San Remigio Sports Center, including three coast members who played at the local basketball tournament when the roof collapsed, local rescuers AFP said. The child was crushed by debris in another San Remigio area, they added.
Rescue effort
The CEBA provincial government has called a call for medical volunteers on its official Facebook page to help as a result of an earthquake.
“People could be trapped under collapsed buildings,” said provincial rescue official Wilson Ramos AFP, quoted ongoing rescue efforts in San Remigio and Bogo. He said he didn’t know how many people were missing.
He added that the effort to recover overnight hindered darkness and shocks.
Rescue efforts continued all night, although the Philippine Institute of volcanic and seismology said the region was swinging 379 shocks.
Damage suffered
Many village roads also suffered damage.
The earthquake caused the electric lines to set off, leading to outages across Ceba and the nearby Central Islands, although the strength was restored shortly after midnight in Ceba and four other central islands, National Grid Corp in the Philippines in updated counseling.
Ceb Firefighter Joey Leeguid said AFP from San Fernando Town: “We felt the shivers here in our station, it was so strong. We saw our cabinet moving from left to right, we felt slightly dizziness for a while, but we are all right now.”
‘In shock’
Martham Pacilan, a 25 -year -old resident of Bantayan, also near the epicenter, said he was on the town square near the church, which was damaged by an earthquake.
“I heard a loud prosperous noise from the direction of the Church, then I saw the rocks falling from the structure. Fortunately, no one was hurt,” AFP said.
“I was in shock and panic at the same time, but my body couldn’t move; I just waited for the shivers to stop.”
Agnes Merza, a caregiver based in Bantayan, said her kitchen tiles had cracked.
“It seemed like we were all falling. It’s been the first time I experienced it. The neighbors all came from their homes. My two teenagers were hiding under the table because that’s what they were learning in scouts,” AFP said.
The Cebu provincial government said the commercial building and the Bantayan school collapsed, while the fast food restaurant in the bog was severely damaged.
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In a live video message about his official Facebook account, the provincial Governor Cebu Pamela Baricuatro urged the inhabitants to “stay calm and move to open areas; keep up from walls or structures that can collapse and stay on the shocks”.
The USGS reported a value of 7.0 before the revision, while the Tsunami warning center in the Pacific said there was no threat of tsunami during an earthquake.
The shocks are in the Philippines, located on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, the shocks located on the Pacific, an arc of intensive seismic activity ranging from Japan through Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Most of them are too weak to feel it, but strong and destructive they come randomly, without the technology to predict when and where they could intervene.
(Tagstotranslate) Cebu earthquake
