Philippines: 11 dead and 24 missing in earthquake

Rescuers found more body in the rubble of a supermarket that collapsed during a powerful earthquake in the northern Philippines, bringing to 11 the death toll, officials said Tuesday. .

A new earthquake struck Tuesday afternoon the center of the country. The United States Geological Survey estimates its magnitude at 6.3 and places its center 13 km east of Tutubigan, at a relatively large depth of 70.2 km, while rescue operations continue. the previous quake.

The mayor of Porac town, in Pampanga province, north of Manila, said that the bodies of four victims had been removed from the Chuzon supermarket and that three other residents had died at the fall of the walls of their home.

An Associated Press photographer saw seven people, at least one of whom was already dead, being taken by the rescuers into the pile of concrete, twisted metal and wood during the night.

Red Cross volunteers, soldiers, policemen and villagers used four cranes, steel bars and dogs to search for missing persons, some of whom were still asking for help Monday night.

Authorities have pushed a large orange tube through the rubble to inject oxygen in hopes of helping people still trapped to breathe.

"We are all very happy and many have applauded for the relief because we are still finding survivors after several hours," Porac councilor Maynard Lapid told The Associated Press by phone, indicating that a another victim would soon be alive. .

Lilia Pineda, governor of Pampanga, said that at least 10 people have died in her province, including those in the town of Porac, severely affected.

The magnitude 6.1 earthquake damaged many homes, concrete roads, bridges, Catholic churches and the terminal of an international airport at Clark Freeport, which was previously an American air base in Pampanga. Another child died in the neighboring province of Zambales, authorities said.

At least 24 people are still missing in the agricultural region where rice is grown, mainly in the rubble of the supermarket that collapsed in Porac, while 81 others were injured, according to the government agency of Disaster badistance.

The four-story building where the supermarket was located collapsed when the earthquake struck Pampanga, as well as several other provinces and the capital, Manila, on the northern island of Luzon.

The earthquake was triggered by a local fault movement at a depth of 12 km near the town of Castillejos in northwestern Zambales province, said Renato Solidum, head of the country's capital. 39, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

More than 400 replicas have been recorded, most of them imperceptible.

According to preliminary estimates by the United States Geological Survey, more than 49 million people have been affected by earthquake tremors and more than 14 million by moderate or more severe tremors.