7 rescued from rubble of quake-hit Pampanga supermarket - governor

Search still on for one feared trapped

MANILA -- Rescuers in Porac, Pampanga have pulled out 7 survivors from the rubble of a supermarket flattened by a powerful quake, the provincial governor said Tuesday.

The magnitude 6.1 quake rumbled across Luzon on Monday afternoon, making buildings sway and driving terrified residents to the street.

While a brownout plunged Pampanga in darkness overnight, rescuers pried at the flattened Porac supermarket, pulling out 7 people, one of whom had his foot amputated after it was crushed by a wall, said Governor Lilia Pineda.

"Talagang magdamag silang hindi tumigil. Maraming tumulong kaya nakuha iyung 7 na buhay pa," she told radio DZMM.

(They really didn't stop, many helped so they recovered the 7 survivors.)

Three people were still feared trapped under the rubble, but only one of them was still making sounds, which rescuers took as a sign of life, the governor said.

Four fatalities were recovered from the building, she said, adding that authorities were still verifying the number of those who died at hospitals.

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The quake centered in the neighboring town of Castillejos, Zambales, about 100 kilometers northwest of the capital.

Thousands of travelers were stranded after aviation authorities shut down the secondary Clark Airport in Pampanga.

"The damage is quite substantial," Clark airport president Jaime Mezo said after photos emerged of a heavily damaged terminal.

Residents posted photos on social media showing a collapsed ceiling and light fixtures swinging in the moments after the quake.

The belfry of a 17th-century Catholic church in Lubao, one of the region's oldest, also suffered damage, Science and Technology Secretary Fortunato de la Pena told reporters.

The Philippines is part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from quake-prone Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

With a report from Agence France-Presse