Handout/Phivolcs
MANILA (5th UPDATE) — A magnitude 6.9 earthquake jolted the coast of Cebu Tuesday night, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.
Cebu quake likely triggered by fault that had not produced powerful tremor in past 400 years
It was initially recorded at magnitude 6.7 but was later upgraded to magnitude 6.9
The earthquake, which was tectonic in origin, occurred at a depth of 5 kilometers about 21 kilometers northeast of the City of Bogo at 9:59 p.m.
DEATH TOLL
Scenes at the Cebu Provincial Hospital in Bogo City where the death toll continues to climb after the 6.9 magnitude earthquake. Annie Perez
As of 10:54 a.m. Wednesday, the death toll in Cebu Province due to the magnitude 6.9 quake on Tuesday is now at 53:
• 30 from Bogo City
• 11 from San Remigio
• 10 from Medellin
• 1 from Sogod
• 1 from Tabuelan
Injured individuals now stand at 154, the provincial government said.
VICTIMS
Police Capt. Jan Ace Elcid Layug, officer-in-charge of the San Remigio Police Station, said one victim was a member of the Bureau of Fire Protection and three were from the Philippine Coast Guard.
“They were playing basketball inside the sports complex then it collapsed,” he said.
As of 3 a.m., October 1, they have yet to rescue another player and the referee in the collapsed facility.
Another 10-year-old boy in Barangay Looc of the same town also died after he was trapped in the rubble.
READ: 5 dead in San Remigio town after Cebu earthquake
DAMAGE
Phivolcs said damage and aftershocks may be expected due to the earthquake.
Phivolcs also warned of possible "minor sea-level disturbance" in the aftermath of the earthquake. The agency warned the public to be "on alert for unusual waves."
They also advised the people in Leyte, Cebu, and Biliran to "stay away from the beach and not go to the coast" until the cancellation of the advisory.
Those who live near the shoreline of those three provinces are advised to move farther inland, while owners of boats in harbors, estuaries or shallow coastal waters were also told to secure their boats and move away from the waterfront.
Classes in Cebu City on Wednesday, October 1 have been suspended as a precautionary measure, Mayor Nestor Archival announced.
"This will give way to the thorough inspection of all government buildings to ensure the safety of our constituents," he said in a social media post. "We also request all private building owners and administrators to conduct immediate safety inspections and take precautionary measures to protect their tenants, employees, and personnel."
POWER OUTAGE
The Cebu Provincial Risk Reduction Management Office has reported that communication and power in the municipalities of Daanbantayan and San Remegio and in Bogo City are down.
They are also responding to reports of injuries and casualties at the San Remegio Sports Complex and Recreation Center, where a basketball game was on-going when the earthquake occurred.
In a live video message on her official Facebook account, Cebu provincial governor Pamela Baricuatro urged residents to "stay calm and move to open areas; keep away from walls or structures that may collapse and stay alert for aftershocks."
She said the provincial government was assessing the situation and reaching out to municipal officials.
A trauma team is also being formed by the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center. Some roads are also impassable, such as that of Tabuelan town.
Meanwhile, the Cebu Archdiocese, through its newly installed Archbishop Albert Uy, is calling for all priests to refrain from using their churches to celebrate mass "until competent experts have certified the safety of the structures.”
The churches in Daanbantayan, Bantayan Island and Tabuelan were all reported to have collapsed or been damaged.
The Philippine Coast Guard, for their part, said that they are in heightened alert and have quick response teams on standby including search and rescue dogs and other assets.
Archdiocesan Shrine of Santa Rosa de Lima is damaged after a magnitude 6.7 quake hit Cebu. Photo courtesy of the archdiocese via Annie Perez, ABS-CBN NewsThe quake was felt at the following intensities:
Intensity V
Argao, Cebu
City of Sipalay, Negros Occidental
City of Lapu-Lapu
City of Tacloban
Intensity IV
San Fernando, Cebu
Bulan, Bulusan
Casiguran, Sorsogon
City Of Roxas, Capiz
City Of Himamaylan, Negros Occidental
Ubay, Bohol
Lawaan, Eastern Samar
Laoang, Northern Samar
City of Catbalogan, Samar
City of Dipolog, Zamboanga Del Norte
Intensity III
City of Legazpi, Albay
City of Iriga, Camarines Sur
Donsol, Sorsogon
Tibiao, Antique
Instrumental intensities were also recorded in parts of Cebu, Leyte, Masbate, Sorsogon, Biliran, Capiz, Northern Samar, Southern Leyte and Davao Del Sur.
Senior Science Research Specialist Erlinton Olavere said in a press conference that aftershocks are expected in the coming days and weeks. These aftershocks will likely be of a lower magnitude than the main 6.9 quake.
'I WAS IN SHOCK'
Call center employees surf mobile phones as they gather outside their office building after earthquake tremors at Cebu in central Philippines on September 30, 2025. Alan Tangcawan, AFP
Cebu firefighter Joey Leeguid told AFP from San Fernando town: "We felt the shake here in our station, it was so strong. We saw our locker moving from left to right, we felt slightly dizzy for a while but we are all fine now."
Martham Pacilan, a 25-year-old resident of the resort town of Bantayan, near the epicentre, said he was at the town square near a church when the quake struck.
"I heard a loud booming noise from the direction of the church then I saw rocks falling from the structure. Luckily no one got hurt," he told AFP.
"I was in shock and in panic at the same time but my body couldn't move, I was just there waiting for the shake to stop."
Agnes Merza, a carer based in Bantayan, said her kitchen tiles had cracked.
"It felt as though we would all fall down. It's the first time I have experienced it. The neighbours all ran out of their homes. My two teenage assistants hid under a table because that's what they were taught in the boy scouts," the 65-year-old told AFP.
The USGS had reported a magnitude reading of 7.0, before revising it down, while the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no tsunami threat from the earthquake.
Quakes are a near-daily occurrence in the Philippines, which is situated on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
Most are too weak to be felt by humans, but strong and destructive ones come at random, with no technology available to predict when and where they might strike. — with Agence France-Presse; Vilma Andales and Bea Cuadra, ABS-CBN News
RELATED VIDEO:
Cebu quake likely triggered by fault that had not produced powerful tremor in past 400 years