161 killed, 3.4 million affected in Philippine earthquake

MANILA -- The number of people killed in the deadly earthquake in central Philippines last Tuesday rose to 161, the country's disaster relief agency said Thursday.

As of 5 pm Thursday local time, 161 people were confirmed dead, the number of missing stood at 21, the National Disaster Risk and Relief Management Council (NDRRMC) said.

Operations officer and spokesman of the NDRRMC Rey Balido said 375 were wounded. The number of affected population came to 3.4 million persons from Cebu, Bohol and Siquijor provinces. About 19, 309 houses were destroyed.

He said classes in the three quake-hit provinces remained suspended.

A magnitude 7.2 quake jolted Bohol and parts of the Visayas and Mindanao regions at 8:12 am Tuesday local time with a depths of 33 km.