The 6.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Cebu Province in central Philippines on the night of September 30 has resulted in 68 deaths, 559 injuries, and has affected more than 360,000 people.
According to China News Service, the Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported on September 2 that the death toll had risen to 72, but revised this number to 68 on September 3. The Philippine Civil Defense Office explained that there was "duplicate registration" in the initial statistics. The Department of the Interior and Local Government is currently conducting further verification, and the final death toll may still be adjusted.
The report also noted that the earthquake has damaged 335 pieces of infrastructure and 5,013 houses; communications were disrupted in 12 towns, power outages occurred in 89 towns, and 53 towns have declared a state of calamity.
Due to the severity of the disaster, the Cebu provincial government declared a state of calamity for the entire province on September 1, in order to mobilize more resources for rescue and resettlement operations.
The Philippine Civil Defense Office stated that, since all missing persons have been found, search and rescue operations in the disaster area were halted on September 2, and the focus of work has shifted to distribution of relief materials and post-disaster reconstruction.