Fatalities Reported After 6.8 Earthquake Strikes Philippines Popular Tourist Area Sunday

MANILA, PI. (THECOUNT) — Philippines second-largest island, Mindanao, a popular tourist destination, was struck by a large magnitude 6.8 earthquake Sunday morning.

Videos posted from the scene showed swimming pools dramatically overflowing and mass evacuations of shoppers from malls. A six-year-old girl was among three people killed.

At least a dozen sizeable aftershock have since struck the area.

The girl was inside her family’s house when the building collapsed and killed her, the province’s governor, Douglas Cagas, reports PIX11.

Fire Service director Chief Superintendent Samuel Tadeo confirmed the three deaths and also said a market in Padada had collapsed.

Residents reported schools had been severely damaged — luckily empty of students at the time, as the quake happened on a Sunday. Governor Douglas Cagas of the island’s Davao del Sur province said a three-story building had also collapsed.

Classes have now been suspended for Monday, and bridges closed due to cracks, Davao city officials said.

DEVELOPING::

Geo quick facts: Manila, the capital of the Philippines, is a densely populated bayside city on the island of Luzon, which mixes Spanish colonial architecture with modern skyscrapers. Intramuros, a walled city in colonial times, is the heart of Old Manila. It’s home to the baroque 16th-century San Agustin Church as well as Fort Santiago, a storied citadel and former military prison – Wikipedia.