7.2-magnitude quake rocks Philippine island, dozens dead
Published:Tuesday | October 15, 2013 | 9:50 AM
CEBU, Philippines (AP):
A massive 7.2-magnitude earthquake rocked the central Philippine island of Bohol today.
The quake struck at 8:12 a.m. and was centered about 20 miles below Carmen city, where many small buildings collapsed.
The death toll is currently 93.
It is expected to rise as rescuers struggled to reach patients in a collapsed hospital.
Centuries-old stone churches crumbled and wide areas were without power.
Bohol police chief Dennis Agustin said 77 of the deaths came from the province.
At least 15 others died in nearby Cebu province and another on Siquijor Island.
Many roads and bridges were reported damaged, making rescue operations difficult.
But historic churches dating from the Spanish colonial period suffered the most.
Among them was the country's oldest, the 16th-century Basilica of the Holy Child in Cebu, which lost its bell tower.
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