|HT|
Anxious residents slept outside after hundreds of aftershocks rattled the earthquake-hit northern Philippines, locals said Thursday, as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr flew to the region to inspect the damage. Five people were killed and more than 150 injured when a 7.0-magnitude quake struck the lightly populated province of Abra on Wednesday morning, authorities said.
The powerful quake rippled across the mountainous region, toppling buildings, triggering landslides and shaking high-rise towers hundreds of kilometres away in the capital Manila.
"Aftershocks happen almost every 20 minutes, 15 minutes since yesterday," said Reggi Tolentino, a restaurant owner in Abra's provincial capital Bangued.
"Many slept outside last night, almost every family."
Hundreds of buildings were damaged or destroyed, roads were blocked by landslides and power was knocked out in affected provinces.
But in Abra, which felt the full force of the quake, overall damage had been "very minimal", police chief Colonel Maly Cula said.
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