MANILA, Philippines (AP) — At least 69 people were killed in a powerful earthquake that hit a central Philippine province where dozens of peple were killed by a powerful earthquake Tuesday night. The magnitude-6.9 earthquake that hit at about 10 p.m. trapped an unspecified number of residents in collapsed houses, nightclubs and other businesses in the hard-hit city of Bogo and outlying rural towns in Cebu province, officials said. Army troops, police and civilian volunteers backed by backhoes and sniffer dogs were deployed Wednesday to carry out house-to-house searches for survivors. “We’re still in the golden hour of our search and rescue,” Office of Civil Defense deputy administrator Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said in a news briefing. “There are still many reports of people who were pinned or hit by debris.”Copyright 2025 The Associated Press.