Residents of island-provinces of Bohol and Cebu in central Philippines could not have imagined that they would be hit by two major calamities in less than a month.

The Philippine National Red Cross estimated the death toll at 1, 200.

On Oct. 15, the two provinces, popular tourist destinations in the Philippines, were devastated by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake that killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands.

Most of the earthquake victims were still living in evacuation centers and temporary shelters when super-typhoon"Haiyan,"locally named"Yolanda," smashed Friday into the two provinces as well as neighboring islands that were directly in the path of the typhoon.

One of the worst-hit areas by the typhoon was Tacloban City, a coastal city in the province of Leyte with a population of 220,000, where more than 1,000 people were believed to have perished after they were swept inland by tsunami-like waves.

The power-packed winds of "Yolanda" lashed the central Philippines with maximum winds of around 315 kilometers an hour followed by storm surges of up to 10 feet high that destroyed thousands of houses.

An aerial video footage of Tacloban City taken after the super- typhoon showed a flattened city.

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who visited the city a day after the typhoon, said"They were just like matchsticks flung inland. All the houses were destroyed."

On Monday, three days after the catastrophe, the exact death toll still could not be determined. Officials said that up to 10, 000 could have died while thousands are still missing.