3 kids, mom killed in Mindanao quake

Those injured in Davao del Sur were being treated at the Digos City Provincial Hospital while those hurt in Cotabato were brought to the Makilala Medical Hospital. #DavaoCotabatoQuake

MANILA — Three children were among four people killed after a powerful earthquake hit the southern Philippines, authorities said Thursday.

The 6.4-magnitude quake struck Tulunan, North Cotabato on Wednesday night also injured 27 people, according to , National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Executive Director Ricardo Jalad.

On Thursday morning, local authorities confirmed four people had been killed but said the death toll was not expected to rise significantly with no casualties reported in Mindanao’s major cities.

Two of the children reported killed were in houses that collapsed, while a mother and her five-year-old son died after being buried in a landslide, local authorities told AFP.

The landslide that occurred in Magsaysay, Davao del Sur also hurt 18 people, PNA quoted NDRRMC spokesperson Mark Cashean Timbal as saying Thursday.

The NDRRMC also reported that three people were hurt in Kidapawan City and six in Makilala, both in North Cotabato.

The identities of those killed were still being determined, said Timbal.

Those injured in Davao del Sur were being treated at the Digos City Provincial Hospital while those hurt in Cotabato were brought to the Makilala Medical Hospital.

Meanwhile, a total of 29 infrastructures in the Davao and Soccsksargen regions were reportedly damaged in the earthquake. Assessment teams were determining the exact cost of the damage.

The Philippines is part of the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.