6.7-strong earthquake hits off southern Philippines

MANILA (AFP): A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck off the coast of the southern Philippines on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said, but according to local authorities there were no reports of casualties or damage.

The quake struck at a depth of 70 kilometres (43 miles) about 100 kilometres southeast of Sarangani municipality off Mindanao island, the USGS said.

It did not trigger a tsunami alert, according to the US Tsunami Warning System and the Philippine seismological agency.

“By the grace of God it was not that strong in our province,” said Chief Master Sergeant Ian Roy Balandan of the Sarangani provincial police office on Mindanao.

Balandan told AFP there had been no reports of casualties or damage to infrastructure or houses.

“It was really mild. People hardly felt it,” he said.

Harly Sauro, a disaster official in Sarangani municipality, which is a small group of islands that forms part of Davao Occidental province, said the quake had not caused any damage or casualties, but “did disturb some people from their sleep”.

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 Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

Most quakes though are too weak to be felt by humans.

Last month, a 7.6-magnitude quake struck off Mindanao, briefly triggering a tsunami warning. At least three people died.