Philippines begins clean-up after powerful twin quakes

Dazed survivors of a pair of major earthquakes in the southern Philippines awoke on Oct 11 to scenes of devastation, after hundreds of aftershocks rocked the region overnight.

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Many coastal residents of Mindanao island slept outdoors, fearful of being crushed to death by aftershocks of the 7.4-magnitude and 6.7-magnitude quakes that struck off the coast within hours of each other on Oct 10.

The Philippine authorities said at least eight people were killed.

Officials described damage to roads, bridges, schools and other public infrastructure as “minimal” but have yet to determine how many people lost their homes.

In Manay, a Mindanao municipality of 40,000, people were removing debris and sweeping up broken glass from homes and other buildings on the morning of Oct 11.

“Our small house and our small store were destroyed,” resident Ven Lupogan told AFP.

“We have nowhere to sleep. There’s no electricity. We have nothing to eat.”

The destruction came less than two weeks after a 6.9-magnitude quake struck the central Philippine island of Cebu, killing 75 people and wrecking about 72,000 houses.