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The United States Geological Survey reported a 6.0-magnitude earthquake in the southern Philippines on Tuesday, with local authorities warning of aftershocks and potential damage.
The shallow quake struck around 2:00 p.m. (0600 GMT), a few kilometers from Maragusan municipality in Mindanao’s mountainous gold-mining province of Davao de Oro.
Although shallow earthquakes cause more damage than deeper ones, there were no immediate confirmed reports of major damage.
According to an employee at the Maragusan disaster office, authorities are investigating reports of a landslide on a national highway.
“We have not received any reports of additional damage or casualties,” he added, declining to give his name. “The office shook, but there was no damage.”
The quake lasted about 30 seconds and was followed by aftershocks, according to Corporal Stephanie Clemen of Tagum police, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Maragusan.
“We went under our desks immediately, and when the ground stopped shaking, we went straight outside,” Clemen told AFP.
“A moderate aftershock just hit, so we’re still outside. While the quake did not appear to have destroyed anything, it was powerful enough to cause fear,” according to Clemen.
Phoebe Alberto and her colleagues at the disaster office in New Bataan municipality, which borders Maragusan, fled as the building shook.
“We are still assessing any damage to our building,” Alberto said.“We’ve arrived outside.”
In 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, earthquakes occur on a daily basis.
Most are too weak to be felt by humans, but powerful and destructive ones strike at random, with no technology to predict when or where they will strike.
The nation’s civil defense office conducts drills that simulate earthquake scenarios along active fault lines on a regular basis.
The most recent major quake occurred in the northern Philippines in October.
The 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Dolores, a mountain town in Abra province, injuring several people, damaging buildings, and knocking out power to much of the region.
Last July, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake in mountainous Abra triggered landslides and ground fissures, killing 11 people and injuring hundreds more.
Source: TheStreetJournal | Read More from Thestreetjournal.org
