A powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake jolted the central Philippines on Tuesday, killing at least 69 people.
The earthquake struck at 9.59pm local time off Cebu island's northern end, near Bogo, a city of 90,000 people, according to the US Geological Survey.
Civil defence deputy administrator Raffy Alejandro said the death toll remains "fluid" as more reports come in from emergency responders.
Cebu governor Pamela Baricuatro said the Cebu provincial hospital in Bogo recorded 25 deaths from the city alone.
“Because of the high volume of patients with serious injuries, the medical staff tended to some of them outside the hospital,” Mrs Baricuatro posted on her Facebook page.
Rescuers earlier tallied six more deaths elsewhere in the province, while the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council listed 147 injured across the central islands, where 22 buildings were damaged.
Dramatic footage filmed by residents and shared widely on social media showed an old Catholic church on Bantayan island near Cebu adorned with a string of light bulbs swaying wildly shortly before its belfry tumbled into the courtyard.
“I heard a loud booming noise from the direction of the church, then I saw rocks falling from the structure. Luckily no one got hurt,” said Martham Pacilan, who was nearby when the belfry collapsed.
Local television showed riders being forced to dismount from their motorcycles and hold on to railings as a bridge in Cebu rocked violently.
Buildings were damaged as far as Cebu city, 100km south of Bogo, where online shoe merchant Jayford Maranga, 21, hid under a restaurant table to avoid being struck by the collapsing metal ceiling of a shopping mall.
“My friend and I ate at the food court near closing time and then, bang! It was as if the Earth stopped spinning. And then the mall started shaking,” Mr Maranga said. His friend was slightly injured, he added.
The Cebu provincial government has put out a call on its Facebook page for medical volunteers to assist in the aftermath. “There could be people trapped beneath collapsed buildings,” rescue official Wilson Ramos said.
Overnight recovery efforts were hampered by aftershocks, he added. The rescue mission proceeded all night as the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the region was rocked by 379 aftershocks.
The quake caused electricity lines to trip, leading to power cuts across Cebu and nearby central islands, though power was restored shortly after midnight in Cebu and four other major islands, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines said.
The Cebu government reported that a commercial building and a school in Bantayan had collapsed, while a fast-food restaurant in Bogo was heavily damaged.
Agnes Merza, 65, a carer in Bantayan, said her kitchen tiles had cracked. “It felt as though we would all fall down. It's the first time I have experienced it. The neighbours all ran out of their homes. My two teenage assistants hid under a table because that's what they were taught in the Boy Scouts,” she told AFP.
A number of village roads also sustained damage.
Quakes are a near-daily occurrence in the Philippines, which is situated on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through South-east Asia and across the Pacific basin.
Specs
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Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
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Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
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The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
TO ALL THE BOYS: ALWAYS AND FOREVER
Directed by: Michael Fimognari
Starring: Lana Condor and Noah Centineo
Two stars
Founders: Ines Mena, Claudia Ribas, Simona Agolini, Nourhan Hassan and Therese Hundt
Date started: January 2017, app launched November 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Private/Retail/Leisure
Number of Employees: 18 employees, including full-time and flexible workers
Funding stage and size: Seed round completed Q4 2019 - $1m raised
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, 500 Startups, Vision Ventures, Seedstars, Mindshift Capital, Delta Partners Ventures, with support from the OQAL Angel Investor Network and UAE Business Angels
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What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
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- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
