Rescuers searched collapsed buildings for survivors Wednesday after a powerful 6.9 magnitude earthquake jolted the central Philippines, killing at least 31 people on the island of Cebu with fears the toll could rise.

The shallow quake struck at 9:59 pm (1359 GMT) Tuesday off the island's northern end near Bogo, a city of 90,000 people, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Cebu provincial governor Pamela Baricuatro said the Cebu provincial hospital in Bogo recorded 25 deaths from the city alone.

"Because of the high volume of patients with serious injuries, the medical staff tended to some of them outside the hospital," Baricuatro posted on her official Facebook page.

Rescuers earlier tallied six more deaths elsewhere in the province, while the National Disaster Risk Reduction

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