At Least 69 Dead in Philippines Earthquake

UPDATE Oct 1, 2025 6:35 PM CDT

The death toll in the 6.9-magnitude earthquake that hit the central Philippines on Tuesday night has reached 69, with hundreds more injured, and authorities expect the toll to climb. Rescuers used backhoes and sniffer dogs to look for survivors in collapsed houses and other damaged buildings on Wednesday, the AP reports. "We're still in the golden hour of our search and rescue," Office of Civil Defense deputy administrator Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said in a morning news briefing in Manila. "There are still many reports of people who were pinned or hit by debris." The New York Times reports that at least 10 people died in a community of "disaster-resilient homes" built for survivors of 2013's Super Typhoon Haiyan.

Sep 30, 2025 4:56 PM CDT

An offshore earthquake of magnitude 6.9 jolted the central Philippines and collapsed the walls of buildings late Tuesday, killing at least 13 people, injuring numerous others, and sending residents scrambling out of homes into darkness as the intense shaking cut off power, officials said. The earthquake was centered about 10 miles northeast of Bogo, a coastal city of about 90,000 people in Cebu province, and struck about 10pm local time, the AP reports.

Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, tells CNN that at least 13 people, including three coast guard personnel and a firefighter, were killed when a sports complex collapsed in San Remigio town, south of Bogo. Reynes appealed for food and water, saying San Remigio's water system was damaged by the earthquake. Heavy equipment may be needed to deal with damage in mountain villages in the area, Reynes said. In Bogo, the quake damaged concrete walls of houses, a fire station, and concrete and asphalt roads, firefighter Rey Cañete says.

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"We were in our barracks to retire for the day when the ground started to shake and we rushed out but stumbled to the ground because of the intense shaking," Cañete tells the AP, adding that he and three other firemen sustained cuts and bruises. Hundreds of terrified residents gathered in the darkness in a grassy field near the fire station and refused to return home hours after the earthquake struck in Bogo. Several business establishments visibly sustained damages and the asphalt and concrete roads where they passed had deep cracks, Cañete says.