6.3 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Central Philippines At Least 8 Killed, Clark Airport Terminal Damaged

By a Staff Reporter – Gulf News Asia

MANILA, April 22, 2019 – Extensive damage from a killer quake. That’s what initial images coming out of the Philippines show: collapsed buildings, damaged airport, cars crushed by debris. At least 17 aftershocks were recorded by Filipino volcanologists.

The chief of the Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology Renato Solidum said that the quake, which was caused by movement of a local fault, was not strong enough to trigger a tsunami or cause widespread damage. The quake struck 60 km (37 miles) northwest of Manila at a depth of 40 km (25 miles).

Update as of 11.29pm Dubai time- At least 8 people were killed when a powerful earthquake struck the Philippines’ main island of Luzon on Monday. Officials feared up to 40 people could be trapped in the rubble of a collapsed commercial building.

One of the victims retrieved from a collapsed supermarket in Porac, Pampanga, north of Manila, had to have one leg amputated.

Employees are seen at an open area in Manila, after an earthquake rocked the Philippines on April 22, 2019, image credit AFP.

Severe damage was sustained by the Clark International Airport (see maps with details below) in Olongapo. The quake was centered on the town of Castillejos in the province of Zambales, about 140 kilometers northwest of Manila, local geologists said. Scientists from the US Geological Survey logged its magnitude at 6.3, and said its epicenter was 40 kilometers (25 miles) below the Earth’s surface.

Local experts gave the quake’s intensity at a slightly lower 6.1 magnitude.

• Tweets shared pictures of collapsed structures. One of the victims was retrieved alive from a collapsed supermarket in Porac, Pampanga, north of Manila — but had to have one leg amputated.
• It was not immediately clear how extensive was the damage as the quake shook Luzon shortly before nightfall.
• A college building in Manila was shown leaning against another neighboring building after the temblor.
• It was not immediately clear how extensive was the damage to structures as the quake shook Luzon shortly before nightfall.
• Social media posts, however, show some cracks in some buildings. A college building in Manila was also shown leaning against another neighboring building after the temblor.

8 people reported killed

• At least 8 people died after a powerful earthquake struck central Philippines on Monday, shaking buildings, cracking walls and sending thousands scurrying out to open fields.
• A local official reported at least three bodies were pulled out of a collapsed building in Porac, a town about an hour by car north of Manila.
• An old woman and her grandchild were crushed to death by another building in the town of Lubao, provincial governor Lilia Pineda told local TV station ABS-CBN. “The quake has caused a blackout,” she said, hampering rescue efforts in the early evening as night closed in.