Residents of a town in central Philippines have lamented the destruction of a century-old historic church, after it collapsed shortly after a 6.9- magnitude quake near the northern region of Cebu island.

The Archdiocesan Shrine of Santa Rosa de Lima in Daanbantayan municipality suffered significant damage, with its walls made out of coral stones crumbling due to the powerful tremors.

Parish Priest Randy Nebrija said nobody in their parish was injured during the quake, but the damage it caused was significant.

"There is sadness among people, especially the parishioners. It's regrettable, but still, I could see in their eyes that there is still hope that we can rebuild the church," he said.

The church serves as one of the pilgrimage sites for many of the people in Cebu island, which was said to be the birthplace of Catholicism in the Philippines, dating back to the 16th century when the Spanish colonizers arrived on the shores of the island.

"It really hurts seeing what happened to our church. In just a few seconds, the quake destroyed it. It's hard to accept that our church collapsed," said resident Vince Toring.

The quake, on 30 September killed at least 68 people, according to the Philippines' civil defence agency, revising an earlier report from 72 after some fatalities were counted twice.