Two strong earthquakes hours apart struck a group of sparsely populated islands in the Luzon Strait in the northern Philippines early Saturday, killing at least seven people, injuring about a dozen and causing substantial damage.
Itbayat town Mayor Raul de Sagon said five people died in the first quake and two in the second, and at least 12 were injured.
"The wounded are still being brought in," de Sagon told a local radio station, adding that he and residents were staying in the town plaza because the successive quakes damaged mostly older buildings and houses made of thick limestone.