Earthquake in Cebu Province kills at least 69, injures 200

At least 69 people were killed and more than 200 injured after a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck Cebu province in the central Philippines late Tuesday, rescue officials said, as confusion briefly surrounded reports that Thomas Markle, the 81 year old father of the Duchess of Sussex, had been trapped on the 19th floor of a residential building. Thomas Markle later said he was safe and mobile, and his half sister, who first reported he was trapped, made her social media account private after posting the claim and later criticizing other family members.

The quake struck at about 10 p.m. local time, officials said, toppling homes and damaging high rise buildings across a densely populated area. Rescue teams deployed sniffer dogs and heavy equipment to search for survivors amid continuing aftershocks. Civil defense authorities warned the casualty figures could rise as crews reach harder hit areas and assess the extent of collapsed structures. A local hospital near the epicenter reported being overwhelmed by the number of injured.

Samantha Markle posted on the social platform X that her father was "stuck on the 19th floor of a building in the Philippines" and that he could not walk....