Philippines quake: Death toll tops 100

The death toll from a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck the central Philippine island of Bohol has topped 100 with only three people pulled alive from rubble.

Regional military commander Lt. Gen. Roy Deveraturda says 100 died on Bohol, the epicentre of yesterday's quake. Nine people were killed in nearby Cebu province and another island.

There seems little hope of finding any large number of survivors from beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings and churches.

The small coastal town of Loon has reported 20 fatalities, the highest in Bohol, including those buried in a hospital and a church.

- AP