Manila: A destructive magnitude 6.9 earthquake shook the central Philippines late Tuesday night, leaving at least 69 people dead and more than 150 injured across Cebu province. The tremor, which struck shortly before 10 p.m. local time, was centered off the coast near Bogo City and was shallow at around 10 kilometers depth, intensifying its destructive impact. Officials warned that both the casualty count and the number of injured could rise as search operations continued through the night and into Wednesday.
The earthquake caused widespread panic as families rushed into the streets in darkness, heavy rain, and power outages. In Bogo City, hospitals were overwhelmed with patients, while buildings across northern Cebu sustained visible cracks and partial collapses. In San Remigio, one of the hardest-hit towns, a sports complex collapsed during a basketball game, killing several people. The municipal government immediately declared a state of calamity, enabling access to emergency funds and rapid disaster response. Local leaders appealed for urgent supplies of food, water, and heavy equipment to clear debris and reach trapped survivors.
Residents in coastal towns described terrifying scenes. In Pilar, one man said he rushed his family out of their shaking house after noticing walls buckling and later witnessed seawater pulling back from the shore. The phenomenon sparked fears of a tsunami, though authorities later confirmed no such threat. In Medellin, several fatalities occurred when homes collapsed in the night, trapping families inside.
Infrastructure damage is extensive. Roads and bridges in northern Cebu cracked or caved in, complicating rescue and relief efforts. Power lines collapsed, leaving many towns in darkness. Water supply networks were also broken, causing severe shortages. Despite the chaos, Mactan-Cebu International Airport remained operational, providing a lifeline for aid deliveries and medical evacuations. The National Grid Corporation reported damage to transmission lines in the Visayas grid, deepening the energy crisis in the region.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed condolences to victims’ families and ordered the immediate mobilization of national agencies. Cabinet officials were dispatched to Cebu to oversee relief coordination. Emergency shelters were set up in schools and municipal halls to accommodate displaced families, but overcrowding and resource shortages posed challenges. Heavy rain further slowed rescue efforts, while continuous aftershocks including one measuring magnitude 6.9 kept residents on edge.
The Philippines’ location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” makes it one of the most disaster-prone nations in the world. This is the third significant earthquake to strike the country in 2025, although earlier quakes caused no casualties. Historical structures also suffered damage, including the Archdiocesan Shrine of Santa Rosa de Lima in Daanbantayan, a church more than a century old.
As dawn broke, rescuers braced for a difficult day ahead, searching collapsed buildings and delivering aid to communities cut off by damaged infrastructure. For residents of northern Cebu, survival now hinges on the speed of relief operations and the restoration of essential services. The full scale of the disaster may take days to emerge, but for many, the night of September 30 will remain etched as one of fear, destruction, and loss.