CBCP head asks prayer after quake killed 7 in Visayas

MANILA, Feb. 6, 2012— The head of the Catholic bishops’ leadership has asked the people to join him in praying after an earthquake claimed seven lives and ruined houses and buildings in Visayas.

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, urged the faithful to pray for those who have died and to be spiritually close to those who were affected.

“Let’s continue to pray that God will continue to protect us,” said Palma over Manila archdiocese-run Radyo Veritas said.

At least seven people have been confirmed dead after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake, which was tectonic in origin, struck parts of central Visayas before noon Monday.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvolcs) said the quake's epicenter was in the sea between Negros Island and Cebu.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said that two fatalities were reported in Negros Oriental’s Tayasan town and one in Jamalalud town.

At least four people were also killed in the quake-triggered landslide which buried about 30 houses in Guihulngan City, also in Negros Oriental, and 29 more were missing. [CBCPNews]