Rescuers in desperate search after a powerful earthquake hit the Philippines, killing at least 69

Rescuers are using backhoes and sniffer dogs to look for survivors in collapsed houses and other damaged buildings in the central Philippines, a day after an earthquake killed at least 69 people.

Officials say the death toll is expected to rise from the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that hit at about 10 p.m. Tuesday. The quake trapped an unspecified number of residents in the hard-hit city of Bogo and outlying rural towns in Cebu province.

Army troops, police and civilian volunteers were deployed Wednesday to carry out house-to-house searches. Officials say tntermittment rain and damaged bridges and roads have hampered the race to save lives.