• Rescuers retrieve a resident from a collapsed building in La Trinidad, Benguet province, after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the Philippines. EPA
    Rescuers retrieve a resident from a collapsed building in La Trinidad, Benguet province, after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the Philippines. EPA
  • A building lies on its side in Bangued, Abra province, after the quake. AP
    A building lies on its side in Bangued, Abra province, after the quake. AP
  • Villagers clear boulders along a road in the Cordillera region after the quake. EPA
    Villagers clear boulders along a road in the Cordillera region after the quake. EPA
  • Construction workers evacuate their building in Manila after the quake. AFP
    Construction workers evacuate their building in Manila after the quake. AFP
  • The quake struck in northern Luzon but the impact was felt as far as Manila, 400 kilometres away. AFP
    The quake struck in northern Luzon but the impact was felt as far as Manila, 400 kilometres away. AFP
  • The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology advised citizens to brace for aftershocks. AFP
    The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology advised citizens to brace for aftershocks. AFP
  • Residents cross a damaged road in the town of Bangued. AFP
    Residents cross a damaged road in the town of Bangued. AFP
  • The earthquake's epicentre was about 13km south-east of the town of Dolores in Abra province, at a depth of 10km. AFP
    The earthquake's epicentre was about 13km south-east of the town of Dolores in Abra province, at a depth of 10km. AFP
  • The quake left many buildings leaning to the side while others ended up with deep cracks in the walls. EPA
    The quake left many buildings leaning to the side while others ended up with deep cracks in the walls. EPA
  • Abra is a landlocked province known for its deep valleys and mountainous terrain. EPA
    Abra is a landlocked province known for its deep valleys and mountainous terrain. EPA
  • A damaged car sits on a road in Bangued, Abra province, after the quake. AP
    A damaged car sits on a road in Bangued, Abra province, after the quake. AP
  • Rescuers manoeuvre along debris in Vigan city, Ilocos Sur province, after the earthquake struck. EPA
    Rescuers manoeuvre along debris in Vigan city, Ilocos Sur province, after the earthquake struck. EPA
  • Rescuers attend to an injured resident of Bangued. EPA
    Rescuers attend to an injured resident of Bangued. EPA
  • The quake damaged a mason temple in Bangued. AP
    The quake damaged a mason temple in Bangued. AP
  • Residents clear up debris outside an old house in Vigan city, north of Manila. AFP
    Residents clear up debris outside an old house in Vigan city, north of Manila. AFP

Powerful earthquake kills five and injures dozens in northern Philippines


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A strong earthquake set off landslides and damaged buildings in the northern Philippines on Wednesday, killing at least five people and injuring dozens. In the capital, hospital patients were evacuated and terrified people rushed outdoors.

The 7.0 magnitude quake's epicentre was in a mountainous area in the hard-hit province of Abra, Renato Solidum, the head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, told the Associated Press as he described the midmorning shaking as a major earthquake.

“The ground shook like I was on a swing and the lights suddenly went out. We rushed out of the office, and I heard screams and some of my companions were in tears,” said Michael Brillantes, a safety officer of the Abra town of Lagangilang, near the epicentre.

“It was the most powerful quake I have felt and I thought the ground would open up.”

At least five people died — mostly in collapsed structures. A villager died after he was hit by falling cement slabs in his house in Abra, while at least 25 residents of the province were injured and were taken to hospital, officials said.

In Benguet province, a worker was pinned to death after a small building that was under construction collapsed in the strawberry-growing mountain town of La Trinidad.

Hundreds of houses and buildings had cracked walls, including some that collapsed in Abra, where President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who took office less than a month ago, planned to travel Thursday to meet victims and local officials.

Marcos Jr. told a news conference he was in his office at the riverside Malacanang presidential palace complex when the chandeliers began swaying and making clanking sounds. “It was very strong,” he said of the ground shaking.

In a chilling near-death experience, Filipino photojournalist Harley Palangchao and his companions were travelling downhill in two vans in Mountain Province when they suddenly heard thunder-like thuds and saw an avalanche of boulders as big as cars raining down just ahead of them from a towering mountain.

Amid screams of his companions in their van to “back up, back up!” the 44-year-old father of three raised his camera in the front seat and snapped what he feared could be the final pictures of his life. The van in front of them was grazed by a boulder, injuring one, but he and others in the second van drove backwards fast enough and escaped unscathed.

Boulders fall down a hillside as a vehicle negotiates a turn on a road in Bauko, Mountain Province, during the quake on Wednesday. AP
Boulders fall down a hillside as a vehicle negotiates a turn on a road in Bauko, Mountain Province, during the quake on Wednesday. AP

“I was thinking there should be at least a record if something happened to us,” Palangchao told the AP.

“It was a horrific experience.”

The Red Cross issued a picture of a three-story building precariously leaning toward a debris-covered road in Abra. A video taken by a panicking witness showed parts of an old stone church tower peeling off and falling in a cloud of dust on a hilltop.

Patients, some in wheelchairs, and medical personnel were evacuated from at least two hospitals in Manila, about 300 kilometres south of Lagangilang, but were later told to return after engineers found only a few minor cracks on walls.

The quake’s strength was lowered from the initial 7.3 magnitude after further analysis. The quake was set off by movement in a local fault at a depth of 17 kilometres, the institute said, adding it expected damage and more aftershocks.

The Philippines lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of faults around the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquakes occur. It is also lashed by about 20 typhoons and tropical storms each year, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.

A magnitude 7.7 quake killed nearly 2,000 people in the northern Philippines in 1990.

The biog

Siblings: five brothers and one sister

Education: Bachelors in Political Science at the University of Minnesota

Interests: Swimming, tennis and the gym

Favourite place: UAE

Favourite packet food on the trip: pasta primavera

What he did to pass the time during the trip: listen to audio books

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5

WHAT%20IS%20THE%20LICENSING%20PROCESS%20FOR%20VARA%3F
%3Cp%3EVara%20will%20cater%20to%20three%20categories%20of%20companies%20in%20Dubai%20(except%20the%20DIFC)%3A%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECategory%20A%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Minimum%20viable%20product%20(MVP)%20applicants%20that%20are%20currently%20in%20the%20process%20of%20securing%20an%20MVP%20licence%3A%20This%20is%20a%20three-stage%20process%20starting%20with%20%5B1%5D%20a%20provisional%20permit%2C%20graduating%20to%20%5B2%5D%20preparatory%20licence%20and%20concluding%20with%20%5B3%5D%20operational%20licence.%20Applicants%20that%20are%20already%20in%20the%20MVP%20process%20will%20be%20advised%20by%20Vara%20to%20either%20continue%20within%20the%20MVP%20framework%20or%20be%20transitioned%20to%20the%20full%20market%20product%20licensing%20process.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECategory%20B%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Existing%20legacy%20virtual%20asset%20service%20providers%20prior%20to%20February%207%2C%202023%2C%20which%20are%20required%20to%20come%20under%20Vara%20supervision.%20All%20operating%20service%20proviers%20in%20Dubai%20(excluding%20the%20DIFC)%20fall%20under%20Vara%E2%80%99s%20supervision.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECategory%20C%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20New%20applicants%20seeking%20a%20Vara%20licence%20or%20existing%20applicants%20adding%20new%20activities.%20All%20applicants%20that%20do%20not%20fall%20under%20Category%20A%20or%20B%20can%20begin%20the%20application%20process%20through%20their%20current%20or%20prospective%20commercial%20licensor%20%E2%80%94%20the%20DET%20or%20Free%20Zone%20Authority%20%E2%80%94%20or%20directly%20through%20Vara%20in%20the%20instance%20that%20they%20have%20yet%20to%20determine%20the%20commercial%20operating%20zone%20in%20Dubai.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE BIO

Occupation: Specialised chief medical laboratory technologist

Age: 78

Favourite destination: Always Al Ain “Dar Al Zain”

Hobbies: his work  - “ the thing which I am most passionate for and which occupied all my time in the morning and evening from 1963 to 2019”

Other hobbies: football

Favorite football club: Al Ain Sports Club

 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

UAE v Ireland

1st ODI, UAE win by 6 wickets

2nd ODI, January 12

3rd ODI, January 14

4th ODI, January 16

Results

5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,200m. Winner: Majd Al Megirat, Sam Hitchcott (jockey), Ahmed Al Shehhi (trainer)

5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m. Winner: Dassan Da, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi

6pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 (T) 1,400m. Winner: Heba Al Wathba, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle

6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 (T) 1,400m. Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi

7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m. Winner: Jawal Al Reef, Richard Mullen, Ahmed Al Mehairbi

Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m. Winner: Harbour Spirit, Adrie de Vries, Jaber Ramadhan.

Trump v Khan

2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US

2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks

2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit

2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”

2022:  Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency

July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”

Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.

Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”

Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance: the specs

Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 plus rear-mounted electric motor

Power: 843hp at N/A rpm

Torque: 1470Nm N/A rpm

Transmission: 9-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 8.6L/100km

On sale: October to December

Price: From Dh875,000 (estimate)

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Updated: July 27, 2022, 1:33 PM