MANILA, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- At least six people were killed and nearly 200 others injured in a 6.6-magnitude earthquake which struck Cotabato province in southern Philippines on Tuesday, Philippine officials said.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the tremor, which struck at 9:04 a.m., hit 25 km southeast of Tulunan town with a depth of 7 km.
Mark Timbal, spokesman for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said three people have so far died in the earthquake, including a 66-year-old man killed by flying debris in Koronadal City, and a 22-year-old man and his 7-year-old son after they were hit by a rock that rolled down from a mountain in Arakan town, Cotabato.
However, local officials and emergency workers told local radio and TV station that more quake-related deaths and injuries were reported in their respective provinces. The NDRRMC is still verifying and collating casualties from its provincial agencies, Timbal added.
Tulunan Mayor Reuel Limbungan, for instance, said that a pregnant woman was crushed to death by a fallen tree in his town. A local provincial disaster agency said that at least 43 were injured in Kidapawan City and Mlang town in Cotabato province.
Police said a 15-year-old student from Magsaysay town in Davao del Sur died from falling debris while rushing out of the school campus during the quake.
Police were also verifying reports that a villager died and at least two are missing in a quake-triggered landslide in Magsaysay town. Police initially said that 300 people were reportedly injured in that town.
Magsaysay Mayor Arthur Davin told a TV interview that emergency workers could not launch operation to rescue the landslide victims due to bad weather.
The tremor, which was tectonic in origin, so far triggered dozens of aftershocks, ranging from magnitude 1.5 to 6.1, the institute said. More than an hour after the initial quake, the institute recorded a 6.1-magnitude aftershock.
The strong earthquake was felt in Kidapawan City, Sarangani province, Davao City, Koronadal City, Cagayan de Oro City, General Santos City, Zamboanga City, and Bukidnon province.
It was the second powerful earthquake that rocked Cotabato province in the central Mindanao region this month. Tulunan town was also the epicenter of the magnitude 6.3 earthquake that jolted the region on Oct. 16. Local officials said the quake sent panicking people out of swaying houses and buildings.
The officials reported that the tremor cut the power supply in many of the affected provinces, knocked down electric posts and shattered glass. Patients of five local hospitals in the affected provinces were evacuated out of the building for safety, they added.
The quake forced local government units to suspend classes and work in the region.
Cotabato and nearby central Mindanao provinces were still reeling from the Oct. 16 tremor that killed 7 seven people and injured 215 others.
The Philippines, which lies along the "Pacific Ring of Fire," is surrounded with numerous active faults and trenches on both sides of the archipelago. The country has frequent seismic activity.
