Two dead as strong quake hits central Philippines

Manila: A 6.5-magnitude earthquake killed at least two people in the central Philippines today, with more than five people still trapped inside a collapsed commercial building, officials said.

An 18-year-old woman died after being hit by falling debris in Ormoc City on Leyte island, near the epicentre of the quake, police said.

Elsewhere, rescuers pulled out eight survivors and one body from a collapsed three-storey structure in the town of Kananga, also on Leyte island, Kananga Vice Mayor Elmer Codilla told AFP.

"Eight have been rescued. All are in the hospital," he said, declining to say if their injuries were serious.

Among those rescued were two people who previously sent SMS messages under the rubble, calling for help, he said.

"There are six or seven still inside. Definitely more than five but less than ten," he added.

Among those still trapped are two children who have been reached by rescuers but who still cannot be extricated from the rubble, the vice-mayor said.

"We have given them water," he added.

Dominico Petilla, the governor of Leyte province, said rescue personnel, ambulances and heavy equipment have been sent to the mountainous town of about 50,000 people.

"They're still trying to pull out the injured," Petilla told local television.

The 10-year-old building housed a small hotel upstairs and shops on the ground floor, officials said.