Huge earthquake in the Philippines has left 16 dead | Chronic

The number of people killed by the magnitude 6.1 earthquake that struck northern Philippines Monday rose to 16, while the task of rescuing about thirty people stranded by the collapse of a supermarket, Tuesday announced officials.

Fifteen of those killed were recorded in the province of Pampanga, in the center of Luzon Island, in the north of the country, about 100 kilometers north of Manila, where tremors were strongly felt, according to the latest count of the National Center for Disaster Management. (NDRRMC), which reports 14 missing and 81 wounded.

The governor of Pampanga, Lilia Pinedainvited to declare in that province the "state of calamity to help quickly the families of the victims and those whose homes were damaged"he told the local media.

The collapse of a supermarket of four stores in the town of Porac, Pampanga, has left at least 5 dead and nine people were rescued from the site, although about thirty of them they are still trapped under rubble, according to official data.

In Porac, seven other people were killed by the collapse of their home. In Lubao, a grandmother and her 7-year-old granddaughter were also killed, crushed when the wall of their home fell on them, while Ángeles died

Meanwhile, in the province of Zambales, where the epicenter of the earthquake was located, a 6-year-old boy, dragged by an avalanche of land in the municipality of San Marcelino, lost his life, a victim that completes the figure. 16 deaths.

Meanwhile, in Pampanga and Zambales, roads, bridges, the railway line and Clark International Airport have been seriously damaged. They will be closed until at least next Wednesday because of the control tower.

Part of the church of Santa Catalina de Alejandria is collapsed, located in Porac, dating from the seventeenth century. At present, more than 400 replicas have been produced, although only eight are perceptible, according to Philvocs.

Philippines is sitting on the so-called "Ring of Fire of the Pacific", an area of ​​high seismic and volcanic activity that is shaken by some 7,000 earthquakes a year, most of them moderate.