MANILA — A powerful 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck the central Philippines late Tuesday, killing more than 60 people and raising fears of considerable destruction.

The shallow earthquake struck around 10 p.m. local time, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), just west of Palompon and close to the city of Bogo in Cebu province.

A quake of this strength in the region could cause casualties and damage to poorly built structures, early survey models suggest.

Cebu Governor Pam Baricuatro said in a post on Facebook that “a total of 27 individuals were reported dead and 143 others sustained various injuries” after the quake.

Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, said in a telephone interview that at least 13 people, including three members of the Philippine Coast Guard and one firefighter, died in the town of San Remigio when a sports complex collapsed during a basketball game.

Red Cross paramedics treated at least 60 people for injuries in three provinces, he said.

“Some churches partially collapsed, and some schools had to be evacuated,” Gordon said. “This was a sleeper,” he said of the late-night quake. “It crept up on us.”

Footage shared on social media from Cebu province showed a fire breaking out at a mall due to the earthquake, as well as a badly damaged McDonald’s. Beauty pageant contestants were seen in another video running off the stage as the earthquake started.

The Philippine Red Cross said there were reports at schools in Cebu of debris, cracks in buildings and a temporary power failure.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), which recorded multiple aftershocks close to the epicenter in the hours after the initial earthquake, canceled a tsunami alert for Leyte, Biliran and Cebu provinces early Wednesday local time.

A minor eruption from the country’s Taal volcano, about 70 km (45 miles) south of central Manila, was also recorded by Phivolcs. It stated that the eruption produced a 2,500-meter-high plume that drifted northwest, but the alert level remains at Level 1.

Governor Baricuatro urged residents to remain calm in a social media video, saying the presidential office confirmed to her it will send immediate aid to Cebu. “Know that the provincial government is doing its best. Help is coming,” she said.

The Medellin municipality in Cebu added in its Facebook post that classes have been suspended until further notice, and work has been suspended until facilities and buildings are assessed.

More than half a million people felt very strong shaking across the Visayan Islands, which include Cebu, Biliran and Leyte, according to estimates from the USGS.

Very strong shaking will bring “considerable damage in poorly built or badly designed structures” as well as “slight to moderate damage in well-built ordinary structures,” according to the USGS.

The Philippines sits along the Ring of Fire, a 25,000-mile (40,000-kilometer) arc of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean that hosts more than half of the world’s volcanoes.

In 2022, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in northern Luzon, the country’s most populous island, killed at least five and injured over 100 people. In 2019, a 6.1 magnitude earthquake, also in Luzon, killed at least 11. — CNN