At least 69 people have been killed in the Philippines after buildings and walls of houses collapsed in a magnitude-6.9 earthquake.
The quake, which struck the central Cebu province just before 10pm on Tuesday, injured many others and sent residents scrambling out of their homes into the night as the intense shaking cut off power, officials said.
The epicentre was about 19 kilometres north-east of Bogo, a coastal city of about 90,000 people.
Raffy Alejandro, a civil defence official, told reporters the hospital in Bogo city has been "overwhelmed".
The death toll of 69 was based on data from the Cebu provincial disaster office and was subject to validation, said Jane Abapo, an information officer at the regional Civil Defense office.
At least 12 residents died when they were hit by falling ceilings and walls of their houses, some while sleeping, in Medellin near Bogo, said Gemma Villamor, who heads the town's disaster-mitigation office.
In San Remigio town, also near Bogo, five people, consisting of three coastguard personnel, a firefighter, and a child, were killed separately by collapsing walls while trying to flee to safety from a basketball game, the town's vice-mayor, Alfie Reynes, told the DZMM radio network.
Cr Reynes appealed for food and water, saying San Remigio's water system had been damaged.
Earthquake monitoring agencies had pegged the depth of the quake at 10km and recorded multiple aftershocks, the strongest being a magnitude-6.
World Vision's Lucille Latonio was about 2-3 hours from the epicentre but still felt the earthquake.
"I was having dinner with my husband at a convenience store," she told the ABC.
"The place started to shake and items from the shop fell down … people were panicking, shouting."
She said many people were staying out of their homes because of fears of aftershocks.
"I'm a little tense because there are still aftershocks happening," Ms Latonio said.
"Some of my family members, we couldn't reach them. So there's that fear and anxiety."
Workers were trying to transport a backhoe to hasten search and rescue efforts in a cluster of shanties in a mountain village hit by a landslide and boulders, Bogo city disaster-mitigation officer Rex Ygot said.
"It's hard to move in the area because there are hazards," Glenn Ursal, another disaster-mitigation officer, said, adding that some survivors were brought to a hospital.
In Bogo, the quake damaged houses, a fire station and concrete and asphalt roads, firefighter Rey Cañete said.
"We were in our barracks to retire for the day when the ground started to shake and we rushed out but stumbled to the ground because of the intense shaking," Mr Cañete said, adding that he and three other firefighters sustained cuts and bruises.
Terrified residents gather in the open
Hundreds of terrified residents gathered in the darkness in a grassy field near the fire station and refused to return home hours after the earthquake struck in Bogo.
Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro said the extent of the damage and injuries in Bogo and outlying towns in the northern section of the province would not be known until daybreak.
"It could be worse than we think," she said in a video message posted on Facebook.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology briefly issued a tsunami warning and advised people to stay away from the coastlines in Cebu and in the nearby provinces of Leyte and Biliran due to possible waves of up to 1 metre.
Teresito Bacolcol, director of the institute, said the tsunami warning was later lifted with no unusual waves being monitored.
Cebu and other provinces were still recovering from a storm that battered the central region on Friday, leaving at least 27 people dead, knocking out power in entire cities and towns, and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.
The Philippines, one of the world's most disaster-prone countries, is often hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of seismic faults around the ocean.
The archipelago is also lashed by about 20 typhoons and storms each year.
Wires/ABC
