At least 15 people were killed, some after being hit by falling debris and blunt objects, provincial disaster-response official Ramon Gotinga said, citing hospital reports. At least 90 others were injured in Surigao city, about 700 km southeast of Manila.
“We’re still doing a rapid needs and damage assessment,” Office of Civil Defense director Antonio Gonzales told The Associated Press by telephone.
Several mostly low-slung buildings and schools sustained cracks in the coastal city and a bridge collapsed in an outlying town. Rescue teams were checking for possible casualties in a village called Poknoy in the city of 140,500 people, he said.
The city’s airport was temporarily closed due to cracks in the runway, aviation officials said. A major port in Lipata district also was closed while engineers checked the stability of an access road, Mr. Gonzales said.
“The shaking was so strong I could hardly stand,” coast guard personnel Rayner Neil Elopre said.
