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Hundreds of homes damaged in Philippines quake

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A resident fixes his damaged home after an earthquake hit the town of General MacArthur, eastern Samar province, in the central Philippines. Photo: AP

More than 800 homes and businesses were damaged when a 5.6-magnitude earthquake rocked the southern Philippines early on Tuesday, officials said.

Cracks snaked across walls and roofs collapsed when the quake struck the southern island of Mindanao before dawn, said Patrick Callanta, operations chief of the civil defence office in Cagayan de Oro city.

One person was injured by falling debris.

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“Houses and commercial buildings suffered cracks on their walls or floors. Some roofs collapsed,” Callanta told reporters by telephone. “The quake struck while people slept.”

Disaster officials in the region said 544 houses, shops and other commercial buildings sustained damage in Valencia city, populated by 163,000 people.

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The lone casualty was hit by falling debris in the adjacent town of Maramag, where 316 buildings were damaged, Callanta said.

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