Rescuers have found only bodies while digging for survivors among dozens of people buried by landslides on a central Philippine island after an earthquake. The death toll has climbed to 15, with more than 70 people missing.
The 6.9-magnitude earthquake on Monday also collapsed bridges and damaged roads on Negros island. Soldiers and firefighters had to hike into mountains to reach remote villages. Most of the confirmed deaths were in Planas village, a part of Guihulngan town where about 30 houses were flattened.
The Guihulngan mayor, Ernesto Reyes, said crews were using earthmoving equipment in the search for casualties. The damage may be worse than officials first realised because the quake cut off communications to some villages, Reyes said. "We have no water and power because electric posts were toppled," he said. "Many of our roads were damaged, including bridges, and stores are closed. We're isolated."
In the mountain village of Solongon in La Libertad town, an unknown number of people were trapped under about 100 houses. The president, Benigno Aquino, sent air force helicopters and navy and coast guard vessels to the aid of rescuers, some of whom had been digging with picks and shovels. Workers were clearing roads and fixing and bridges to get equipment, food and medicine in.
The undersea quake was centred 44 miles north of Dumaguete, capital of Negros Oriental province, and about 400 miles south-east of the nation's capital, Manila. The Negros Oriental police chief, Edward Carranza, said at least 73 people remained missing in the province.
The casualties could top a 2004 quake on Mindoro Island, south of Manila, where 78 people died, about half of them in a quake-triggered tsunami. A local tsunami alert was issued following Monday's quake but was soon cancelled.
Reyes said that 13 residents died and at least 29 remained missing in the landslide in Planas, where an army platoon was digging for survivors. Meanwhile the landslide had blocked a mountain river that was threatening to back up and swamp houses along its banks. Residents had been told to leave.