FIVE people have died following a mighty 6.9-magnitude earthquake in central Philippines late Tuesday, injuring villagers and leaving homes and public buildings in ruins.

All five deaths were recorded in the municipality of San Remigio in the north of the populous major island of Cebu, local police told AFP.

Four bodies were pulled from a sports centre in San Remigio, while a child was crushed by debris in another area of the town, Manila television network ABS-CBN reported from the scene.

The quake struck at sea off the Cebu city of Bogo at 9:59 pm (1359 GMT), damaging buildings and roads and triggering a rescue effort across the north of the island,.

Theprovincial rescue official Wilson Ramos said: "There could be people trapped beneath collapsed buildings," he told AFP, citing

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