The death toll from a strong earthquake off the southern Philippines yesterday rose to seven, while rescuers also searched for two people feared buried beneath a landslide.
The magnitude 6.7 earthquake that struck the Mindanao region on Friday afternoon caused part of a shopping mall ceiling to collapse, triggered power cuts and sent people fleeing into the streets.
Falling debris from the SM City General Santos mall in General Santos crushed a woman to death, city police captain Ari Noel Cardos said.
Photo: AFP / handout / Shaira Ann Sandigan-Rodrigo
Police earlier reported the death of a couple pinned under a collapsing concrete wall in General Santos.
Another person was killed by a falling steel structure in the municipality of Glan, in Sarangani province, police officer Paul Mesalido said.
Firefighters yesterday dug with shovels as they searched for two members of a family feared buried beneath a landslide at a mountain village about four hours’ drive from Glan, rescuer Daniel Nocos said.
“The village chief reported to us that a mother and her child were trapped beneath the rubble,” Nocos said.
An excavator had been sent to help in the search, but had not yet reached the area because of bad roads and a damaged bridge, he said.
The Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported a second death in Glan and another in the adjacent Malapatan municipality, but gave no details.
In neighboring Davao Occidental province, an elderly man was killed by a large rock that rolled down a hill near his house, police officer Patrick Laurente said.
Two people were injured in General Santos, while 450 others were treated for panic and breathing difficulties, the disaster agency said.
The quake damaged 60 houses in four provinces as well as 32 roads and bridges in the region, rescuers said.
Gregorio Narajos, 34, was getting ready to eat at the SM City General Santos mall when the quake hit.
“We went under the table, we can’t do anything else,” he said. “People started running downstairs. We were scared because there might be a stampede, then the lights went off, the earthquake was so strong. People were screaming and shouting: ‘Oh my God.’ We just started praying.”
The quake struck 26km from Burias Island at the southern tip of the Philippines, the US Geological Survey said, adding that it was centered at a depth of 78km.
Additional reporting by AP
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS