MANILA, Philippines -- A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck in the central Philippines on Tuesday morning, collapsing roofs and buildings, cracking walls and roads and killing at least six people.
The quake was centred 56 kilometres deep below Carmen town on Bohol Island and was felt across the region.
Radio station DZMM quoted civil defence officials as saying that four people died when part of a fish port collapsed in nearby Cebu city, across the strait from Bohol.
Two more people died and 19 were injured when the roof of a market in Mandaue in Cebu province collapsed, according to TV reports. People rushed out of buildings and homes, including hospitals as aftershocks continued.
Photos from Cebu broadcast on TV stations showed a fallen concrete 2-story building, and reports said two people were pulled alive, including an 8-month-old baby.
Bohol Gov. Edgardo Chatto said that a church was reported damaged in the provincial capital of Tagbilaran and a part of the city hall collapsed, injuring one person.
A 17th-century stone church in Loboc town, southwest of Carmen, crumbled to pieces, with nearly half of it reduced to rubble. Other old churches dating from the Spanish colonial period, which are common in the central region, also reported damage.
Tuesday is a national holiday and that may have reduced casualties because schools and offices are closed.
Earthquakes are common in the Philippines, which lies along the Pacific "Ring of Fire."
Cebu province, about 570 kilometres (350 miles) south of Manila, has a population of more than 2.6 million people. Nearby Bohol has 1.2 million people and is popular among foreigners because of its beach and island resorts.
