7 Feb 2012

Quake toll rising

8:31 am on 7 February 2012

The death toll from a magnitude 6.9 earthquake that hit the central Philippines on Monday has risen to 43.

The quake struck north of Negros Island, about 50km from the city of Cebu at noon.

The US Geological Survey said it was at a depth of 46km. it was earlier reported as being magnitude 6.8.

Officials say a landslide has buried about 100 houses in a mountain village.

Provincial Governor Noel Degamo says at least three main bridges are impassable and some areas cannot be reached.

The Office of Civil Defence says a three-storey building fell down in La Libertad town, while five cottages in a nearby beach resort were destroyed by a sudden rise in the sea following the quake.

More than 200 aftershocks have been recorded, the strongest with being magnitude 6.2 which occurred almost four hours after the original quake.

A magnitude 7.7 quake killed nearly 2000 people on the northern island of Luzon in 1990.