A partially damaged building is seen amid debris in Masbate Province, August 18, 2020, after an earthquake struck the Philippines.
© Philippine Red CrossA partially damaged building is seen amid debris in Masbate Province, August 18, 2020, after an earthquake struck the Philippines.
A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck the Philippines on Tuesday, killing at least one person and damaging roads and buildings including a hospital and a sports complex being used as a novel coronavirus quarantine centre.

It was the strongest earthquake in eight months in the Philippines, which lies on the "Ring of Fire," a seismically active belt of volcanoes circling the Pacific Ocean.

"My things at home fell down and my neighbours' walls cracked and some collapsed," Rodrigo Gonhuran, 30, told Reuters from the central town of Cataingan, which has a population of more than 50,000 people and is near the epicentre.

One man, a retired police colonel, was killed when his three-storey house collapsed, while four people suffered minor injuries, provincial administrator Rino Revalo told DZMM radio station.



A powerful earthquake struck a central Philippine region Tuesday damaging houses and a seaport and prompting people to dash outdoors for safety. | A volunteer looks at the cracks on a road after a quake struck in Cataingan, Masbate province.
A powerful earthquake struck a central Philippine region Tuesday damaging houses and a seaport and prompting people to dash outdoors for safety. | A volunteer looks at the cracks on a road after a quake struck in Cataingan, Masbate province.
Patients were moved out of a hospital into tents because of cracks in the building, Revalo said.

Engineers were checking a damaged sports complex to see if it was safe to accommodate people staying there in quarantine after moving back from the capital, Manila, he said.

A damaged building on Masbate island in central Philippines. Photo uploaded on August 18, 2020.
A damaged building on Masbate island in central Philippines. Photo uploaded on August 18, 2020.
People returning to their homes in the provinces from the capital have to spend time in quarantine.

The Philippines, which has a population of 107 million, has the most coronavirus cases in Southeast Asia with more than 164,000 confirmed infections and 2,681 deaths.

The quake struck at sea at a depth of 30 km (18.64 miles), the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said.

The Philippine seismology agency said there was no risk of a tsunami but warned of aftershocks.

The strong earthquake hit near the town of Cataingan, sending residents fleeing their homes and damaging buildings and roads
The strong earthquake hit near the town of Cataingan, sending residents fleeing their homes and damaging buildings and roads
A toppled house is seen after a quake struck in Cataingan, Masbate.
A toppled house is seen after a quake struck in Cataingan, Masbate.
A damaged building surrounded by debris in Masbate Province, after an earthquake struck the Philippines.
A damaged building surrounded by debris in Masbate Province, after an earthquake struck the Philippines.
(Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru and Neil Jerome Morales in Manila; Editing by Ed Davies, Robert Birsel)

Source: Reuters