A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the southern Philippines, the United States Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was issued and there were no immediate reports of damage.
The shallow quake hit just before 6.30am local time yesterday about 20km from the village of Barcelona on the east of Mindanao island, USGS said.
Many people were sleeping when the strong shaking jolted them from their beds.
The local seismological agency said no damage was expected from the earthquake.
In Lingig municipality, where Barcelona is located, local disaster officer Ian Onsing said he was woken by the tremor.
“The shaking was quite strong. The things around here were moving. I guess, the shaking took around 10-15 seconds,” he said.
“So far, there are no reported casualties or damage. We are now monitoring the shores for any rough movement.”
In the municipality of Hinatuan, about 25km north of Barcelona, local disaster officer Jerome Ramirez saw appliances “moving for around 30 seconds” from the strong shaking.
He also said there had been no reports of injuries or damage in coastal communities in the area.
“Now we are just monitoring for possible aftershocks,” Ramirez said.
A series of aftershocks were felt in some areas in Mindanao, with the strongest at 6.3 magnitude about 36km east of Barcelona, according to USGS.
Earthquakes regularly strike the Philippines, which sits along the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of intense seismic and volcanic activity that stretches from Japan through South-East Asia and across the Pacific basin.
Most are too weak to be felt by humans but strong and destructive quakes come at random with no technology available to predict when and where they will happen. — AFP
