Philippine rescuers search for quake survivors

DUMAGUETE: Rescuers in the Philippines dug through rubble with their bare hands and shovels on Tuesday after a powerful earthquake triggered landslides, collapsed homes and killed dozens of people.

The 6.7-magnitude quake hit a narrow strait between the heavily populated islands of Negros and Cebu around lunchtime Monday, and a terrifying stream of aftershocks that authorities said could last for weeks added to the mayhem.

Local military chiefs said 43 people were confirmed killed, but officials warned dozens of others were believed to be injured or missing in mountainous areas that had been cut off from rescue workers.

"Heavy equipment we've requested from the provincial government has not arrived yet, because the roads and bridges are impassable," said Senior Inspector Alvin Futalan, police chief of Guihulngan town on Negros, which was heavily damaged.

"We are using our hands and shovels to search in the rubble," he told.

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 Fatulan. (AFP)