Philippine families rebuild amid further quake fears

GENERAL MACARTHUR, Philippines (AFP) - Families returned to their quake-devastated homes in the central Philippines on Sunday, ignoring government warnings to relocate away from danger zones.

Men, women and children picked through the debris in the quiet fishing town of General MacArthur looking for materials to salvage from their splintered wooden houses.

The area faces the Pacific Ocean on the country's eastern seaboard, where a 7.6-magnitude offshore quake struck on Friday, triggering a tsunami alert that forced over 130,000 people to flee.

"We thank the Lord that no big waves came, but still, the earthquake destroyed our home," said Ms Rosel Aruera, a 20-year-old mother of two, as she surveyed her the remains of her home.