Residents flee homes as powerful earthquake hits Philippines

Locals have also reported power cuts and damage to a church

A 6.9-magnitude earthquake was reported in the Philippines on Tuesday (United States Geological Survey)

A powerful 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck the central Philippines on Tuesday night, sending residents into the streets, damaging a stone church, and cutting power in some areas.

The earthquake was centered about 17 kilometers (10 miles) northeast of Bogo, a coastal city of about 90,000 people, where the intense shaking damaged concrete walls of houses and a fire station, knocked out power in the city and caused deep cracks on asphalt roads, firefighter Rey Cañete said.

“We were in our barracks to retire for the day when the ground started to shake and we rushed out but stumbled to the ground because of the intense shaking,” Cañete told The Associated Press by telephone, adding that he and three other firemen sustained cuts and bruises.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology anticipates both damage and aftershocks.

Power outages were reported in Daanbantayan, a Cebu province town where the affected stone church stands.

The full extent of the church’s damage remains immediately unknown.

There was no tsunami threat after the quake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

The tremor was centred about 17 kilometres northeast of Bogo city in Cebu province, caused by movement in a local fault (Getty/iStock)

There were no immediate reports of deaths or damage.

The quake was at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles) and was located about 20 km from the city of Bogo, the survey said, adding that an aftershock of magnitude 5.2 was also reported from the region.

The Philippines, among the world’s most disaster-prone countries, frequently experiences earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire".

The archipelago is also hit by around 20 typhoons and storms annually.