A devastating magnitude 6.9 offshore earthquake violently shook the central Philippines late on Tuesday, September 30, 2025. This powerful tremor flattened stone and concrete structures, left numerous residents injured by falling debris, and sent terrified communities fleeing their homes, according to official reports.
The epicenter of the quake was pinpointed approximately 17 kilometers northeast of Bogo, a bustling coastal city home to around 90,000 people. Here, the intense shaking severely compromised concrete walls, shattered a fire station, plunged the city into darkness due to power outages, and left deep, visible cracks across asphalt roads, as detailed by firefighter Rey Cañete.
Recounting the terrifying experience, Cañete told The Associated Press, ‘We were just settling into our barracks for the night when the ground began to violently heave. We rushed out, but the shaking was so severe we stumbled to the ground.’ He and three of his colleagues suffered cuts and bruises in their desperate escape.
The fire station endured a partial collapse, with one concrete wall giving way. Cañete and his team immediately sprang into action, providing crucial first aid to at least three residents wounded by falling debris and collapsed structures. Among them was an elderly man who sustained head injuries and was swiftly transported to a nearby hospital. Cañete expressed concern that many more individuals likely suffered injuries given the sheer intensity of the seismic activity.
In the aftermath, hundreds of frightened residents in Bogo, Cebu province, congregated in dark, grassy fields, too fearful to return to their damaged homes for hours. Cañete observed extensive damage to several businesses, noting the significant cracks in the asphalt and concrete roads. An historic Roman Catholic church in Daanbantayan, a town close to Bogo, also reportedly sustained damage.
Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro confirmed that an unspecified number of homes and a hospital in the hardest-hit city of Bogo and surrounding areas were damaged. Emergency medical teams are being dispatched to assist and treat those trapped or injured. The full scope of the devastation and casualty count will only become clear as daylight breaks, she explained.
‘We are already deploying a trauma team, with doctors and nurses on their way,’ Baricuatro informed the DZMM radio network, emphasizing the urgent need for ‘medicine, food, and medical teams.’ The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology initially issued a tsunami warning, urging people in Cebu and the neighboring provinces of Leyte and Biliran to move away from coastlines due to potential waves up to 1 meter high.
However, Teresito Bacolcol, the institute’s director, later confirmed to The AP that the tsunami warning was rescinded after no unusual waves were detected.
This recent earthquake adds to the challenges faced by the central Philippine provinces, which were already grappling with the recovery from a severe storm that struck just days prior. That storm, on Friday, tragically claimed at least 27 lives, primarily through drownings and falling trees, caused widespread power outages, and necessitated the evacuation of tens of thousands.
The Philippines frequently experiences earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, a stark reality of its position along the Pacific “Ring of Fire”—a vast arc of seismic faults circling the Pacific Ocean, making it one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to natural disasters. The archipelago also contends with an average of 20 typhoons and storms annually.