A strong earthquake of 6.5 magnitude rattled Philippines late on Friday night, killing at least 15 people and injuring over a 100 from the Surigao del Norte province as they fled their homes in the middle of the night.
The quake, which hit the southern region of Philippines damaged buildings and an airport and knocked out power in vast areas, officials on Saturday said, according to Associated Press reports.
Reports state that the quake was centred around 14 km northwest of the provincial capital of Surigao at a relatively shallow depth of 11 km, Renato Solidum of the Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology said.
The officials said that almost 100 aftershocks have been felt after the huge quake. They also added that the schools were being reopened over the weekend as evacuation centres for residents who are wary of heading back to their damaged homes for safety concerns.
There were reports of at least 15 casualties, where some of them got killed after being hit by falling debris, provincial disaster-response official Ramon Gotinga said. Citing hospital reports, he added that at least 90 people were also injured in Surigao city, which is about 700 km southeast of Manila.
"We're still doing a rapid needs and damage assessment," Office of Civil Defence director Antonio Gonzales told The Associated Press over phone.
Rescue trams reportedly were checking for more possible casualties in a village called called Poknoy in the city of 140,500 people.
Cracks were also reported on the runway after the quake, resulting in the airport being temporarily shut, the aviation officials said.
