MANILA: A 6.5-magnitude earthquake killed at least one person in the central Philippines yesterday, with at least five more people trapped inside a collapsed commercial building, officials said.

Rescuers pulled out six people from the three-storey structure in the town of Kananga, near the quake's epicentre on Leyte island, Kananga vice-mayor Elmer Codilla told AFP.

"There are still more people inside, maybe more than five. The rescue operation is ongoing," he added.

Two of those trapped managed to send text messages seeking help, the vice-mayor said.

Officials retrieved one body while six people were rescued without injuries, Mr Codilla said.

Mr Dominico Petilla, the governor of Leyte province, said rescue personnel, ambulances and heavy equipment have been sent to the mountainous town of about 50,000 people.

"They're still trying to pull out the injured," Mr Petilla told CNN Philippines.

The 10-year-old building housed a small hotel upstairs and shops on the ground floor, officials said.

The quake hit at a depth of around six kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.

There was no immediate warning of a tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. Large parts of Leyte were devastated by super typhoon Haiyan in November 2013.

Huge tsunami-like waves smashed the city of Tacloban and nearby areas, leaving 7,350 people dead or missing.

Tacloban and Ormoc, the island's other main city, escaped damage this time, residents contacted by telephone said. </s> TWO people died after a 5.1 magnitude quake jolted Albuera, Leyte early morning on Wednesday, August 23.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) recorded the epicenter of the earthquake northeast of Albuera at 6:26 AM.

Vince Emnas, Ormoc City Administrator, confirmed two people died in the quake.

51-year old Maria Colasito of Barangay Naungan in Ormoc City suffered a fatal head injury. While a resident of Barangay San Jose, 70-year old Rosita Baloro, died after suffering a heart attack.

Emnas said the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office has yet to verify reports of an injured person.

He also added that the quake resulted to minor infrastructure damages.

“Dili kaayo grabe og impact ang earthquake because it happened very early. People were still at home. So, empty pa ang streets, ang mga schools. Ang hospital ug hotels lang nato ang naghimo og precautionary evacuations (The earthquake didn’t have a huge impact because it happened very early. People were still at home. The streets and schools were still empty. But hospitals and hotels made precautionary evacuations),” Emnas said.

Whie Tacloban City and Palo, Leyte felt the earthquake at Intensity 3.

Benjamin Pongos, Jr., the acting mayor of Ormoc City, announced the suspension of classes in all levels in the city.

Ormoc and parts of Leyte are still reeling from a strong 6.5 magnitude quake in July. </s> Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 23) — Two people died in the magnitude-5.1 quake that hit Leyte Wednesday.

Supt. Elma Delos Santos, spokesperson of the Ormoc City Police, identified the victims as 51-year-old Maria Contreras Colasito from Barangay Naungan, and 70-year-old Rodita Baloro from Barangay San Jose. Both barangays are in Ormoc City.

Colasito fell and hit her head on the pavement during the quake, while Baloro suffered a heart attack a few minutes after the tremor, police told CNN Philippines.

The earthquake struck at 6:26 a.m., five kilometers (kms) from Albuera, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

Phivolcs said that aftershocks are expected from Wednesday's quake, but no damage is expected. No reports of injuries have yet been received from authorities.

The quake had reported intensities of 5 (strong) in Ormoc City; 4 (moderately strong) in Pastrana, Leyte; and 3 (weak) in Tacloban City and Palo, Leyte, it added. Intensity measures the strength of the shaking from an earthquake.

The quake prompted the Ormoc City government to suspend classes in all levels. Ormoc, the provincial capital of Leyte, is 21 kms north from Albuera.

Wednesday's quake comes more than six weeks after a magnitude-6.5 quake killed two and injured 72 in Jaro, Leyte last July 6.

Ormoc and some neighboring towns were placed under a state of calamity on August 7 to hasten relief and rehabilitation there.

READ: Two dead, 72 injured in Leyte quake

Jaro is 30 km north of Albuera.

CNN Philippines' Senior Correspondent Jun Tariman contributed to this report. </s> A strong, shallow earthquake shook the central Philippines on Thursday, leaving at least two people dead and injuring more than 100, including several in a collapsed building where others were trapped, officials said.

At Least 10 Injured in Philippines Quake (The Weather Channel/Inform)

TACLOBAN, Philippines — A strong, shallow earthquake shook the central Philippines on Thursday, leaving at least two people dead and injuring more than 100, including several in a collapsed building where others were trapped, officials said.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a magnitude of 6.5 and struck at a depth of 6.5 kilometers (4 miles) in Leyte province. Filipino seismologists measured the depth at just 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) and said the quake, caused by movement of the Philippine Fault, was felt most strongly in Leyte’s Kananga town.

Shallow earthquakes generally cause more damage on the Earth’s surface.

A building collapsed in Kananga, killing one person, injuring more than 20 others and trapping at least six, Kananga Mayor Rowena Codilla told DZMM radio.

One person was pulled out from the building alive but injured, Codilla said. She said rescuers are digging a hole in an effort to reach the six others.

“They’re alive because they are communicating with our disaster people,” she said, adding that the rescuers were moving carefully to prevent the rest of the building from tumbling down.

The building had a grocery store, a hardware store and a beauty parlor on the ground floor and a guest house on the second floor, she said.

The quake caused power outages in Kananga and outlying areas.

Thousands of residents, office workers and students fled from homes, buildings and schools, with some falling over as the ground shook. Many refused to return home because of aftershocks.

Mayor Richard Gomez of Ormoc city, about 30 kilometers (17 miles) from Kananga, told DZMM that a landslide hit a house and killed a young woman. More than 100 others were injured in the area, including many who were “traumatized and hysterical,” he said.

The strong shaking caused cracks in some buildings and roads in the city and power was automatically shut off, Gomez said.

Ormoc’s airport will be closed starting Friday to allow an inspection, officials said.

Delia Vilbar, the treasurer of Ormoc, said she was attending a meeting on the second floor of City Hall when the earthquake struck.

“It was very strong, and the building was shaking,” she said. “I sat down while others in the room went under the table.”

When she went outside to the street, she saw people crying and embracing each other, she said.

Asked about the earthquake, President Rodrigo Duterte, who was visiting southern Bukidnon province, said he had not received any reports of major damage.

The quake struck in a region that was devastated in November 2013 by Typhoon Haiyan, which whipped up huge waves that left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, leveled entire villages and displaced more than 5 million villagers. Tacloban city, which was hard hit by Haiyan, lost electrical power after Thursday’s earthquake.

The Philippines sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where earthquakes and volcanoes are common. A magnitude 7.7 quake killed nearly 2,000 people in the northern Philippines in 1990. </s> (UPDATED) The quake's epicenter was located just northeast of Albuera, Leyte, with a depth of focus at just 5 kilometers below ground, Phivolcs says

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines (UPDATED) – Two persons died in Ormoc City after a shallow magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Leyte on Wednesday morning, August 23.

The quake's epicenter was located just northeast of Albuera, Leyte, with a depth of focus at just 5 kilometers below ground, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said in its bulletin.

Intensity V was felt in Ormoc City and Albuera town; Intensity IV in Pastrana town; and Intensity III in Palo and Tacloban City, the agency said.

Ormoc City Administrator Vince Emnas told Rappler that resident Maria Colasito, 51 years old, of Barangay Naungan died due to a head injury after falling. Meanwhile, Rosita Baloro, a 70-year-old resident of Barangay San Jose, died after suffering a heart attack.

Around 56 houses in Brgy Altavista in the city were slightly damaged because of the earthquake, as reported by barangay chairperson Myrna Mangle.

There are no damage expected, but aftershocks are expected, Phivolcs added. – with reports from Jazmin Bonifacio / Rappler.com </s> (File image for representation only) Cracks appear in and along a road near Quellon, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016, after an earthquake. | AP

MANILA: A powerful 6.5-magnitude earthquake rattled the central Philippines Thursday, US seismologists said, revising an earlier figure of 6.9.

The quake hit at a depth of around six kilometers (four miles), on the central island of Leyte, the US Geological Survey said.

There was no immediate warning of a tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

Marlon Tano, a Leyte farmer and journalist, told AFP the quake knocked him off his feet at his eggplant farm in Borauen, a town near the quake's epicentre.

"It was so strong that I fell," Tano said.

"I saw buses and motorcyles stopping on the highway and people getting off them," he added.

Large parts of the island of Leyte were devastated by super typhoon Haiyan in November 2013.

Huge tsunami-like waves smashed the city of Tacloban and nearby areas, leaving 7,350 people dead or missing.

In February, a 6.5-magnitude quake killed eight people and left more than 250 injured outside the southern city of Surigao.

The following month a 5.9-magnitude tremor killed one person there in March.

Before the Surigao quakes, the last lethal earthquake to hit the country was a 7.1-magnitude tremor that left more than 220 people dead and destroyed historic churches when it struck the central islands in October 2013.

The Philippines lies on the so-called Ring of Fire, a vast Pacific Ocean region where many of Earth's quakes and volcanic eruptions occur. </s> At least eight people were killed and 60 more injured after two earthquakes shook Batanes islands, the north of the Philippines, early July 27, according to the Philippine Government.The quakes were magnitude of 5.4 and 5.9 respectively. Several big aftershocks hit the area later.The first quake killed five people while three others lost their lives in the aftershocks, according to Ricardo Jalad, executive director of the Philippines’ national disaster agency.The agency has been sending medical and rescue teams to the islands, while the military was also deploying an aircraft to transport supplies and bring out injured, he said.Mayor Raul de Sagon said the number of dead and injured people may be higher.The Philippines is on the geologically active Pacific Ring of Fire and experiences frequent earthquakes. Latest 6.3-magnitude quake in April killed 11 people and collapsed a market in the north of Manila capital. –VNA </s> MANILA, Philippines — A strong, shallow earthquake shook the central Philippines on Thursday, sending panicked residents running from their homes and schools, officials said.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said it expected some damage and aftershocks. Officials said they were verifying reports of damage to roads and buildings in a mountain town in Leyte province.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck Thursday afternoon and measured a preliminary 6.5 magnitude. It said it was centered near Masarayao in Leyte at a depth of 6.5 kilometers (4 miles). Shallow earthquakes generally cause more damage on the Earth’s surface.

Local residents reported strong shaking and said people fled from their houses, schools and buildings and some were knocked over.

Officials said the epicenter is in a mountainous area with small towns.

The Philippines sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where earthquakes and volcanoes are common. A magnitude 7.7 quake killed nearly 2,000 people in the northern Philippines in 1990. </s> MANILA (Reuters) - A strong earthquake struck the central Philippines on Thursday killing at least one person and damaging several houses and some infrastructure, officials said.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said aftershocks were expected but ruled out any tsunami following the earthquake of magnitude 6.5 that rocked the towns of Jaro and Kananga in Leyte province.

Congresswoman Lucy Torres-Gomez from the province said one person had been confirmed killed and Kananga had been "badly hit".

"There were cracks on the roads and in some areas landslides have been reported," she told ANC News Channel, adding that a building also collapsed.

"The aftershocks are still quite strong."

The U.S. Geological Survey said earlier the quake had a magnitude of 6.9 and struck southwest of Tacloban City, one of the areas hardest hit by a typhoon in 2013.

Tacloban's mayor, Cristina Romualdez, said she received no reports of casualty or damage in her area.
Two people die in an earthquake in Leyte, Philippines.