Sawt Falasteen - Philippine quake death toll rises to 72

Firefighters and rescuers pulled a woman and her child from the rubble of a collapsed hotel overnight Wednesday in the city of Bogo, near the epicentre of the 6.9-magnitude quake that struck on Tuesday.

The body of another woman was also retrieved from the site earlier in the day, AFP journalists saw.

The national government said 294 people were injured and around 20,000 had fled their homes. Nearly 600 houses were wrecked across the north of Cebu island and many are sleeping on the streets as hundreds of aftershocks shake the area.

Cebu provincial governor Pamela Baricuatro made several urgent appeals for help on Thursday, saying thousands needed safe drinking water, food, clothes and temporary housing, as well as volunteers to sort and distribute aid.

"Many homes were destroyed and many families are in need of help to recover... They need our help, prayers and support," she said on Facebook.

President Ferdinand Marcos flew to Cebu with senior aides on Thursday to inspect the damage and coordinate relief efforts. He did not immediately speak to the press.

A tiny village chapel is serving as a post-quake home for 18-year-old Bogo resident Diane Madrigal and 14 of her neighbours after their houses were destroyed. Their clothes and food are scattered across the chapel's pews.

"The entire wall (of my house) fell so I really don't know how and when we can go back again," Madrigal told AFP.

"I am still scared of the aftershocks up to now, it feels like we have to run again," she added.

Mother-of-four Lucille Ipil, 43, added her water container to a 10-metre (30-foot) line of them along a road in Bogo, where residents desperately waited for a fire truck scheduled to bring them water.

"The earthquake really ruined our lives. Water is important for everyone. We cannot eat, drink or bathe properly," she told AFP.

"We really want to go back to our old life before the quake but we don't know when that will happen... Rebuilding takes a long time."

Many areas remain without electricity, and dozens of patients were sheltering in tents outside the damaged Cebu provincial hospital in Bogo.

"I'd rather stay here under this tent. At least I can be treated," 22-year-old Kyle Malait told AFP as she waited for her dislocated arm to be treated.

More than 110,000 people in 42 communities affected by the quake will need assistance to rebuild their homes and restore their livelihoods, according to the regional civil defence office.

Search and rescue efforts appeared to be winding down in Bogo early Thursday, as rescuers milled around awaiting instructions.

"As of now, all those who were reported missing were already retrieved," Cebu fire bureau official Liewellyn Lee Quino told AFP.

Rescuers were sent to re-check a collapsed hotel hours after three bodies were retrieved.

"The final check is important so that we can assure the community here that no one is forgotten inside these establishments, and that they can choose to destroy this place completely (for redevelopment)," Quino said.

Earthquakes are a near-daily occurrence in the Philippines, which is situated on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

Most are too weak to be felt by humans but strong and destructive quakes come at random, with no technology available to predict when and where they might strike.

R.Shaban--SF-PST