Death toll in Philippines earthquake rises, scores injured

This handout video grab photo taken from the Facebook page courtesy of CJ Ericson Garcia shows a resident walking past a crack on a road pavement in the town of Bangued, Abra province, north of Manila Manila on July 27, 2022, after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit the northern Philippines. © CJ Ericson Garcia, AFP

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake killed at least three people in the northern Philippines Wednesday, toppling buildings, and shaking high-rise towers more than 300 kilometres (185 miles) away in the capital Manila.

The shallow but powerful quake struck the mountainous and lightly populated province of Abra on the main island of Luzon at 8:43am (0043 GMT), the USGS said, after initially measuring the quake at 6.8 magnitude.