DUMAGUETE, Philippines: Rescuers in the Philippines dug through rubble with shovels and their bare hands on Tuesday after a powerful earthquake triggered landslides, collapsed homes and killed dozens of people.The 6.8-magnitude quake hit a narrow strait between the heavily populated islands of Negros and Cebu around lunchtime Monday with more than 200 aftershocks, some nearly as strong, causing further panic throughout the day.
Local military chiefs said 43 people were confirmed killed, but officials warned the death toll may rise. Dozens of others are feared injured or missing with landslides having blocked roads for rescuers in mountainous areas.- Thirty-nine people were reported killed in Guihulngan, a coastal city of 100,000 people flanked by mountains that was close to the quake's epicentre.
- The city's public market, court house and private homes in the area had collapsed or were damaged, while landslides buried some houses completely, according to Senior Inspector Alvin Futalan, police chief of Guihulngan town on Negros.
Futalan said the city's overwhelmed 42-man police rescue squad had been joined by hundreds of army troops and volunteers in clearing debris as they raced against time to find people still believed missing.The Philippines sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" - a belt around the Pacific Ocean where friction between shifting tectonic plates causes frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.
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