Philippines ends quake rescue efforts, priority now on helping the 20,000 displaced
Philippines ends quake rescue efforts, priority now on helping the 20,000 displaced/node/2617515/world
Philippines ends quake rescue efforts, priority now on helping the 20,000 displaced
Earthquake survivor Jesiel Malinao sits beside the coffins of her two sons on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025 after a strong earthquake on Tuesday caused a landslide that toppled their hillside homes in Bogo City, Cebu of central Philippines. (AP)
Philippines ends quake rescue efforts, priority now on helping the 20,000 displaced
Attention has now turned to delivering aid to survivors of the 6.9-magnitude quake
The Philippines sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” – an earthquake-prone belt of volcanoes stretching from South America to the Russian Far East
Updated 02 October 2025
Reuters
BOGO, Philippines: Philippine authorities said on Thursday that search and rescue operations in quake-hit Cebu province have ended, as the current death toll of 72 was not expected to go much higher and missing people had been accounted for.
Attention has now turned to delivering aid to survivors of the 6.9-magnitude quake that has become the country’s deadliest in more than a decade.
Striking waters off Cebu’s central island late Tuesday, the quake has caused more than 20,000 people to be displaced, while over 300 have been injured.
On Thursday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr visited Bogo, a city of some 90,000 that was the worst-affected, seeking to reassure evacuees and noting that relief operations have been complicated due to widespread damage to infrastructure.
“We are having some difficulty because we have nowhere to put the displaced families because we’re unsure of the integrity of the evacuation centers,” he told reporters.
“We will make sure there is food supply, water supply and electricity – a generation set if needed. Whatever the people need, we will make sure we can provide.”
Many of the victims were killed when buildings and homes collapsed – either due to the quake itself or landslides that followed after. Heavy rain and the absence of power also hampered rescue efforts.
The Philippines sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” – an earthquake-prone belt of volcanoes stretching from South America to the Russian Far East. It experiences more than 800 quakes each year.
US will respond to Rwanda’s violation of peace pact, says Rubio
Waltz told the Security Council meeting that the US “is deeply concerned and increasingly disappointed” by this resurgence of violence
Updated 58 min 34 sec ago
AFP
WASHINGTON: Top US diplomat Marco Rubio said on Saturday that Rwanda had clearly violated the peace agreement it signed with the Democratic Republic of Congo in Washington last week and vowed unspecified “action” in response.
The Rwandan-backed M23 armed group advanced in eastern DRC and seized the key border city of Uvira, just days after the leaders signed the “Washington Accords” on Dec. 4.
Mike Waltz, US ambassador to the UN. (REUTERS)
“Rwanda’s actions in eastern DRC are a clear violation of the Washington Accords, and the US will take action to ensure promises made to the President are kept,” Secretary of State Rubio wrote on X.
FASTFACT
UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix warned the new offensive ‘has revived the specter of a regional conflagration with incalculable consequences.’
The capture of Uvira, along the border with Burundi, has raised fears that the conflict could escalate into a regional war.
As part of an offensive launched at the beginning of December in South Kivu province, the armed group’s takeover follows its earlier this year capture of Goma and Bukavu, other major cities in the DRC’s mineral-rich east.
On Friday, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz accused Rwanda of “leading the region toward more instability and toward war.”
“The Rwandan defense forces have provided materiel, logistics, and training support to M23 as well as fighting alongside M23 in DRC with roughly 5,000 to 7,000 troops,” not including possible reinforcements during the latest offensive, Waltz told the UN Security Council.
The Rwandan firepower has included surface-to-air missiles, drones, and artillery, he added.
Since taking up arms again in 2021, the M23 has seized swaths of territory, displacing tens of thousands and leading to a spiraling humanitarian crisis.
Earlier this month, UN experts said Rwanda’s army and the M23 had carried out summary executions and forced mass displacements of people in the region.
Waltz told the Security Council meeting that the US “is deeply concerned and increasingly disappointed” by this resurgence of violence.
The envoy denounced “the scale and sophistication” of Rwanda’s involvement in eastern DRC.
UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix warned the new offensive “has revived the specter of a regional conflagration with incalculable consequences.”
“Recent developments pose a serious risk of the progressive fragmentation of the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly its eastern part,” he said.
Burundi on Friday accused Rwanda of bombing its territory, and its ambassador, Zephyrin Maniratanga, told the council it “reserves the right to use self-defense.”
He warned that if the attacks continue, it would be extremely difficult to avoid an escalation between the two African countries.
“Rwanda is not waging war against the Republic of Burundi and has no intention of doing that,” Ambassador Martin Ngoga said.
Meanwhile, Congolese Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner criticized the Security Council for its “lack of action” and called for sanctions against Rwanda.
Despite a resolution adopted in February demanding the withdrawal of Rwandan troops and a ceasefire, “the situation is undeniable: another city has fallen, a parallel administration has consolidated itself, thousands more families have fled, and others have been killed, raped, and terrorized,” she said.
