8 dead, 60 hurt as dual earthquakes strike northern Philippine islands

The quakes caused houses built of stone and wood to collapse, jolting residents from their sleep, according to a disaster response spokesman

More than 1,000 people – about half the island’s population, most of whom are fishermen – have been advised not to return to their homes

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A house damaged by the earthquakes that struck Itbayat on Saturday. Photo: EPA

Published: 11:35am, 27 Jul 2019Updated: 3:50pm, 27 Jul 2019

Two strong earthquakes hours apart struck a group of sparsely populated islands in the Luzon Strait in the northern Philippines early on Saturday, killing at least eight people, injuring about 60 and causing substantial damage.

The quakes collapsed houses built of stone and wood, arousing residents from their sleep, said Roldan Esdicul, who heads the Batanes provincial disaster-response office. Footage showed people clearing boulder-size stone bricks to pull out one body from the rubble of a home.

“Our bed and everything were swaying from side to side like a hammock,” Esdicul said by cellphone from Basco town, the provincial capital. “We all ran out to safety.”

More than 1,000 residents of hard-hit Itbayat island – nearly half of the island’s population of mostly fishermen – were advised not to return to their homes and stay in the town plaza as successive aftershocks shook the region, he said.

“The wounded are still being brought in,” Itbayat Mayor Raul de Sagon told a local radio station. He said more doctors may be needed if the number of injured from interior villages rises.

A resident looks at damaged houses in Itbayat town. Photo: AP

The Philippine seismology agency said the quakes measured 5.4 and 5.9 on the Richter scale. A third quake magnitude 5.7 struck later Saturday.