A 6.9-magnitude quake struck off the coast of the central Philippines on Tuesday evening, damaging buildings and roads and knocking out power in parts of the region, as rescuers searched for possible casualties.

Municipal workers checked a collapsed public building and a gym, both in the north of the island of Cebu, hours after the quake struck at sea off its northern tip at 9:59 pm (1359 GMT), provincial rescue official Wilson Ramos said.

“There could be people trapped beneath collapsed buildings,” he told AFP, citing rescue efforts underway in the town of San Remigio and Bogo, a city near the epicentre with 90,000 residents. He said he did not know how many people are missing.

Recovery efforts were being hampered by the dark as well as aftershocks, he added. The US Geological Service has recorded four quakes of magnitude 5.0 or higher in the area following the first tremor.

The local seismology office warned of a possible “minor sea-level disturbance” and urged residents of the central islands of Leyte, Cebu and Biliran to “stay away from the beach and not to go to the coast”.

Cebu firefighter Joey Leeguid told AFP from San Fernando town: “We felt the shake here in our station, it was so strong. We saw our locker moving from left to right, we felt slightly dizzy for a while, but we are all fine now.”

Martham Pacilan, a 25-year-old resident of the resort town of Bantayan, also near the epicentre, said he was at the town square near a church, which was damaged by the quake.

“I heard a loud booming noise from the direction of the church, then I saw rocks falling from the structure. Luckily, no one got hurt,” he told AFP.

“I was in shock and in panic at the same time but my body couldn’t move, I was just there waiting for the shake to stop.”

Power outage

Agnes Merza, a carer based in Bantayan, said her kitchen tiles had cracked.

“It felt as though we would all fall down. It’s the first time I have experienced it. The neighbours all ran out of their homes. My two teenage assistants hid under a table because that’s what they were taught in the boy scouts,” the 65-year-old told AFP.

The Cebu provincial government reported a commercial building and a school in Bantayan had collapsed, while a number of village roads had also sustained damage.

The quake caused power lines to trip, leading to outages across Cebu and nearby central islands, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines said in an advisory, adding it was still assessing the extent of the damage.

In a live video message on her official Facebook account, Cebu provincial governor Pamela Baricuatro urged residents to “stay calm and move to open areas; keep away from walls or structures that may collapse and stay alert for aftershocks.”

She said the provincial government was assessing the situation and reaching out to municipal officials.

The USGS had reported a magnitude reading of 7.0, before revising it down, while the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no tsunami threat from the earthquake.

Quakes are a near-daily occurrence in the Philippines, which is situated on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

Most are too weak to be felt by humans, but strong and destructive ones come at random, with no technology available to predict when and where they might strike.

US President Donald Trump said that he considered the praise extended to him by Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir as an “honour”.

Speaking to US military leaders on Tuesday, Trump said that the Pakistani Field Marshal had lauded his role in stopping the Pakistan-India war, which ultimately saved millions of lives.

“He said if the war had taken place, it would have been much worse,” Trump noted. The US president added that Field Marshal Munir’s remarks had left a positive impression on him. “I really liked his comment,” Trump remarked.

Trump further said that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Munir had made these observations in the presence of others, including two generals, adding weight to his words.

His statement came after his meetings with the army chief twice.

In July, Trump and COAS Munir met over lunch at the White House Cabinet Room, where the field marshal acknowledged President Trump’s statesmanship and his ability to comprehend and address the multifaceted challenges faced by the global community.

Their second meeting was held earlier this month, as Trump, PM Shehbaz Sharif, and Field Marshal Munir held a meeting at the White House.

Prime Minister expressed his “deep admiration” for United States President Trump, describing him as a “man of peace” engaged in sincere efforts to end conflicts around the world.

Speaking during a warm and cordial meeting with President Trump at the Oval Office, the prime minister said the US leader’s bold, courageous, and decisive actions had helped facilitate the ceasefire between Pakistan and India, thereby averting what he called a potential “major catastrophe” in South Asia, a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office read.

Tony Blair, Britain’s former prime minister whose legacy was heavily tarnished by the 2003 war in Iraq, has long been a contentious figure in the Middle East and beyond.

His potentially leading role in Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza will likely do little to change that.

Blair, 72, who is set to sit on the board of an international transitional authority in the Palestinian territory, is credited with crafting the US leader’s plan alongside Trump’s son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner.

“I wouldn’t say that Trump anointed him, it’s that he managed to convince President Trump of the merits of this plan,” Sanam Vakil, Middle East programme director at the Chatham House think tank, told AFP.

Blair brings a wealth of regional contacts and experience after spending eight years as the envoy for the Middle East Quartet of the European Union, United Nations, United States and Russia.

A savvy and confident global operator, he will be seen as bringing heft to any leadership role in Gaza.

Critics argue he achieved little as envoy and that he is ill-suited to play peacemaker, as he is reviled by many Arabs and discredited in Britain for joining the US-led invasion of Iraq.

“His reputation, of course, is mired by his involvement in the Iraq war,” Vakil said.

“But at the same time, he is trusted by leaders in the Gulf … (who) see him as a potential bridge-builder candidate,” she added, stressing that this did not correspond to Palestinian support.

‘Horrible idea’

Blair, a skilled communicator famed for his strong self-belief, has maintained an informal regional role through his institute and consultancy roles.

He contributed to the 2020 historic Abraham Accords brokered during the first Trump presidency, which normalised relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, according to his office.

Israel appears to welcome his possible new role, with Blair said to enjoy a good rapport with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“He has always had a corner of his heart devoted to the unfinished project of calming down this conflict,” Ehud Barak, who served as Israel´s premier in the early 2000, told the Washington Post.

The Palestinians seem less enthusiastic about his participation.

“That is the most horrible idea,” Mustafa Barghuti, head of the Palestinian National Initiative, told CNN.

“To bring a foreign person to run the Palestinian affairs in Gaza is absolutely unacceptable, especially with the reputation that Mr. Blair has.”

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on rights in the Palestinian territories, was equally blunt.

“Tony Blair? Hell no,” she posted on X. “Shall we meet in The Hague perhaps?” she added, referring to the International Criminal Court amid calls for him to face war crimes charges over Iraq.

Blair has remained unapologetic about joining the 2003 invasion, which triggered accusations that the UK government was “a poodle” of then-US president George W Bush.

But he has expressed regret about intelligence failures and the lack of post-war planning.

“At least you could say we were removing a despot and trying to introduce democracy,” he told AFP in a 2023 interview.

‘Cool Britannia’

A youthful Blair first became a lawmaker for centre-left Labour in 1983. Within 11 years, he was spearheading reform as a leader.

He became prime minister in 1997— the first of three general election wins, an unprecedented feat for Labour — and, at 43, Britain’s youngest premier since 1812.

Riding a wave of “Cool Britannia” optimism in his 10-year tenure, Blair oversaw a period of prosperity, enacted key constitutional changes and expanded gay rights.

He also secured a historic peace accord in Northern Ireland.

But his political fortunes shifted in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

One million people protested on London’s streets against invading Iraq, and his domestic reputation eroded further after the evidence for the war proved flawed.

A power struggle with finance minister Gordon Brown led to Blair being ousted in 2007.

But Blair, a committed Christian, remained a globe-trotting statesman. He set up a foundation to support interfaith dialogue and counter extremism.

He has also worked with governments in developing nations in Africa, although his lucrative consultancy work has drawn criticism.