A powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck the Philippine island of Luzon on Wednesday killing at least four people and injuring 60, damaging buildings in the northern Abra province and sending strong tremors through the capital, Manila.
Two people died in Benguet province, one in Abra province, and one more in another province, Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos told a televised news conference.
Terrain map of the earthquake showing the epicentre in the eastern region of Luzon, the archipelago’s northern island. Very strong shaking was felt close to the epicentre and the regions immediately surrounding them.
A hospital in Abra province was evacuated after the building partially collapsed following the quake, but there were no casualties reported, said officials. The landlocked northern Philippines province is home to nearly 250,000 people, and its deep valleys and sloping hills are enclosed by rugged mountains.
The quake was also felt in Manila where several buildings were evacuated, with some people forced to flee from the 30th floor of one building, and the city's metro rail systems were halted at rush hour.
Map showing the epicentre in the eastern region of Luzon, the northern island of Philippines, and epicenters and magnitudes of all earthquakes since 1900 with a magnitude of five or above.
The Philippines is prone to natural disasters and is located on the seismically active Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a band of volcanoes and fault lines that arcs round the edge of the Pacific Ocean, causing frequent earthquakes.
Map showing a 40,000-kilometre horseshoe-shaped bend that partly encircles the Pacific Ocean. The region is a seismically active belt of earthquake epicentres, volcanoes, and tectonic plate boundaries.
Jose Joseph, Jahnavi Nidumolu and Ed Davies
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS); Natural Earth; Shuttle Radar Topography Mission; Reuters reporting
Anand Katakam and Robert Birsel