At least five people have died following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake in the Philippines, ABS-CBN, the country's largest broadcaster, reports, citing the police.

The earthquake that struck off the coast of Cebu City late on Tuesday led to power outages and damaged buildings in the region, sending residents scrambling out of homes, officials said.

The US Geological Survey pegged the depth of the quake at 10km and recorded multiple aftershocks in the region following the earthquake, with the strongest aftershock a magnitude of 6.

Another monitoring agency said there was no tsunami threat following the quake.

Cebu City, located in the Philippines' central Visayas region, has a population of nearly one million, according to the USGS.

Earlier on Tuesday, Ian Po, police chief of Vill

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