A 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck the Philippines, killing at least 69 people. Rescuers with shovels and helped by sniffing dogs dug through the mud and rubble on Wednesday. They are searching for survivors. The shallow quake struck the island of Cebu late Tuesday. It triggered landslides, toppled buildings, and damaged roads and bridges. The damage slowed rescue efforts to find survivors still trapped in the wreckage. Local hospitals were overwhelmed by the number of injured victims. Leaders declared a “state of calamity” in the province of Cebu. “We are still in the golden hour,” Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said. "We can still save more lives." Alejandro works for the country’s Office of Civil Defense. The quake hit right before 10pm Tuesday off the coast of Bogo City. The region is still cleaning up from Tropical Storm Bualoi. It struck the Philippines less than a week ago. The storm killed at least 27 people. It also forced over 400,000 to flee their homes. “We are handling two to three disaster sites as we speak,” Philippines Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa told The Wall Street Journal. He noted that the country could get hit by another tropical storm on Friday. Even with the threat of aftershocks and strong rains, thousands of people in Cebu remained outside Wednesday. Many were fearful that their houses were no longer safe. “This was really traumatic to people," Teresito Bacolcol told The Associated Press. He's the head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. “They’ve been lashed by a storm then jolted by an earthquake. I don’t want to experience what they’ve gone through.” Reflect: How can people stay hopeful and help one another when their community faces a natural disaster? Photo of the rubble of a damaged house in the aftermath of the earthquake in the Philippines from Reuters.
