Magnitude 6.3 quake hits Philippines, 8 die

Bloomberg

The Philippines was struck by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Monday afternoon that shook buildings in the capital and prompted the evacuation of thousands onto the streets of Manila. At least eight people have died, according to local media.
The quake occurred 1 kilometre from Gutad, located to the northwest of Manila, according to the US Geological Survey. The Philippine disaster monitoring agency said the quake struck Castillejos in Zambales province at 5:11 pm local time.
At least five people were killed, including three pulled from a collapsed building in Pampanga and a grandmother and child pinned to the wall of another building in the same province, ABS-CBN News reported, citing local officials. Pampanga province is home to the Clark economic zone, where the government is building a back-up capital.
Several areas in Luzon island including Metro Manila suffered power outages as the quake affected several power plants, the Department of Energy said.
Petron Corp, the Philippines’ largest oil company, said the earthquake triggered the protective tripping of some units at its refinery. This caused the plant to shutdown, which was followed “by the usual flaring of gases as required,” the company said, adding that there was no fire at the refinery.
National Grid said it has restored power transmission services in some areas affected by the quake.
A train line across the capital’s main highway halted operations to assess if there’s damage, the transport agency said. Metro Pacific Tollways said its engineers are assessing all structures in the North Luzon Expressway and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, particularly the Porac Bridge which was reported to have
incurred damage.