At least one person had been killed and 43 injured when a magnitude 6.6 earthquake shook the central Philippines, damaging buildings and roads and sending residents fleeing their homes.
The shallow quake struck southeast of Masbate Island in the Bicol region at 8:03am (00:03 GMT) on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said.
"There are a lot of damaged houses," said Staff Sergeant Antonio Clemente in Cataingan, a town of about 50,000 people on the impoverished island several kilometres west of the epicentre in the Samar Sea. "It was really strong."
According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, the quake hit about five kilometres (three miles) from Cataingan at a depth of about 21 kilometres (13 miles).
Local radio station reporter Christopher Decamon said he saw emergency workers pull the body of a retired police officer from the rubble of a three-story house on the outskirts of Cataingan. The man's wife escaped unharmed.
Police confirmed the man's death. Sixteen people were also injured in the town.
The earthquake "was really strong, our people were broadcasting at the time, but they just ran out of the building", Decamon told AFP news agency by telephone.
In nearby Palanas, at least 27 people were injured after being hit by falling objects or when their motorcycles crashed, Chris Adique, a municipal disaster officer, told DZBB radio.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
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