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Death toll in Philippines quake reaches 110
The death toll from a 7
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he death toll from a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck the central Philippine island of Bohol reached 110 Wednesday with only three people pulled alive from rubble.
The three were rescued in nearby Cebu province hours after Tuesday's quake shattered office buildings and homes and caused many centuries-old churches to crumble.
In Bohol, the quake's epicenter, rescuers counted 100 dead, said regional military commander Lt. Gen. Roy Deveraturda. Cebu reported nine fatalities, and one died on another island.
There seems little hope of finding any large number of survivors from beneath the rubble of leveled buildings, homes and churches.
The small coastal town of Loon reported 20 fatalities, the highest in Bohol, including those buried in a hospital and a church.
Many roads and bridges were damaged, making rescue operations difficult. But historic churches dating from the Spanish colonial period suffered the most. The country's oldest, the 16th-century Basilica of the Holy Child in Cebu, lost its bell tower.
Nearly half of a 17th-century limestone church in Loboc town, southwest of Carmen, was reduced to rubble, as was the largest church on the island in Loon town, where three worshippers were buried alive.
The entire province was without electricity after the quake cut power supplies.
Authorities set up tents for those displaced by the quake, while others who lost their homes moved in with their relatives, Bohol Gov. Edgardo Chatto said.
Extensive damage also hit densely populated Cebu city, across a narrow strait from Bohol, causing deaths when a building in the port and the roof of a market area collapsed.
The quake set off two stampedes in nearby cities. When it struck, people gathered in a gym in Cebu rushed outside in a panic, crushing five people to death and injuring eight others, said Neil Sanchez, provincial disaster management officer.
