Moderate quake hits southern Philippines, 16 injured
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Manila - A 5.2-magnitude earthquake injured 16 people and damaged dozens of houses and buildings in the southern Philippines, the Office of Civil Defence (OCD) said Tuesday.
The quake struck late Monday with an epicentre south-west of Malaybalay town in the southern province of Bukidnon, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
It was felt strongest in Valencia City, where power was cut and 40 patients were evacuated from a hospital.
The OCD said the hospital suffered slight damage but engineers deemed it safe to resume operations.
At least 23 houses collapsed or were damaged while three department stores sustained cracks, said Major Eugenio Julio Osias, an army division spokesman.
Ana Caneda, OCD deputy director, said 10 of the 16 people hurt in the quake were still confined in hospitals.
She said most of the victims were hurt from falling objects, including a mother and her 3-year-old son whose house partially collapsed on them.
The Philippines, located in the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," suffered its worst earthquake in 1990 when a 7.7-magnitude tremor killed nearly 2,000 people in the norther island of Luzon. //DPA
