MANILA (Reuters) - Four people died and more than 100 were injured after a powerful earthquake struck the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines late Friday, damaging some structures and cutting power in many areas, local officials said.

The 6.7 earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 km and the epicenter was about 13 km east of the city of Surigao, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said there was no tsunami threat from the earthquake.

Renato Solidum, head of the Philippines’ seismic agency, said on radio on Saturday morning 89 aftershocks had been recorded and more could be expected but they were unlikely to cause significant damage.

Friday’s quake was the strongest since the city was rocked by a 6.9 quake in 1879, Solidum said.

People rushed to open spaces and spent the night in parks and shelter areas, according to radio reports.

Power-lines were down, water supply was interrupted, a bridge and a hotel collapsed and some homes were damaged, Surigao City Councilor Rise Recabo told DZRH radio.

Officials closed Surigao’s airport because of cracks on the runway.

The Philippines is on the geologically active Pacific Ring of Fire and experiences frequent earthquakes. </s> A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the Philippines early Saturday, officials said, damaging several buildings and injuring two people as panicked residents fled the coast following a tsunami warning.

US authorities warned of potential hazardous waves in the southern region of Mindanao and Indonesia after the quake hit at 4:23 a.m., but the tsunami alert was lifted less than two hours later.

Residents were jolted from their beds and ran onto the streets as the earthquake shook the area, leaving cracks in a hospital, two government buildings and a port, as well as triggering the collapse of at least one house and causing a brief power outage.

“The floor appeared to rise first before swaying violently from side to side. Then the lights went out,” said Adrian Morallas, who was at work at the civil defense office in General Santos city at the time of the quake.

“I ducked and took cover under my desk in line with our disaster training, though it was very difficult to do that in the dark with the ground shaking.”

Morallas said coastal communities near General Santos were told to evacuate as a precaution, though authorities do not know how many people actually left their homes.

The quake struck at a depth of 41 kilometers (25 miles) off Mindanao island, the US Geological Service said.

The state-run Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology gave a higher magnitude reading of 7.2. The epicenter was about 53 kilometers off Mindanao’s south coast, it added.

 READ: Strong magnitude 7.2 quake rocks Mindanao

“We do not expect major damage after this event,” the institute’s head Renato Solidum said on ABS-CBN television in Manila.

Morallas said two people were injured during the evacuations in the Mindanao coastal towns of Glan and Malapatan.

One person was hit by a falling rock while a pregnant woman hurt herself when she fell.

The Philippines lies on the so-called Ring of Fire, a vast Pacific Ocean region where many of Earth’s quakes and volcanic eruptions occur.

A 6.0-magnitude earthquake damaged dozens of houses on central Mindanao on April 12, while a trio of strong quakes battered buildings and caused panicked tourists to flee a popular resort near Manila on April 8.

A 6.5-magnitude quake killed eight people and left more than 250 injured outside the Mindanao city of Surigao in February, and another 5.9-magnitude tremor killed one person there last month.

Before Surigao, the last lethal earthquake to hit the country was a 7.1-magnitude tremor that left more than 220 people dead and destroyed historic churches when it struck the central islands in October 2013. </s> A strong earthquake of 6.5 magnitude shook some parts of Mindanao and the Visayas late Friday, injuring at least two people, damaging some buildings, knocking out power, and sending hundreds of residents fleeing to safety, officials said.

There was no threat of a tsunami from the quake in Surigao del Norte province which struck about 14 kilometers (8 miles) northwest of the capital city of Surigao at a relatively shallow depth of 11 kilometers (6.8 miles), Renato Solidum of the Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology (Phivolcs) said.

The quake was set off by movement in the Philippine fault.

Many residents were roused from sleep by the shaking and rushed into the streets, with some children crying in the confusion, coast guard personnel Rayner Neil Elopre said by telephone from the coastal city of Surigao, about 700 kilometers (430 miles) southeast of Manila

“The shaking was so strong I could hardly stand,” Elopre said, adding that village leaders asked many residents to move to a school building on higher ground. He paused briefly as a mild aftershock struck as he talked on the phone.

At the offie of the Philippine Coast Guard, plates and other objects fell to the ground, he said.

Police officer Jimmy Sarael said he, his wife and two children were roused from sleep by the quake, but they could not stand as the ground shook so they embraced their son and daughter tightly until the shaking eased. “I thought our house would collapse,” he said by telephone.

They later moved to the moonlit grounds outside the provincial capitol complex, where more than 1,000 other jittery residents fled and may spend the night in the open, he said.

According to Phivolcs, Intensity 6 was felt in Surigao City, where among the buildings damaged was the Parkway Hotel.

Senior Supt. Anthony Maghari, Surigao del Norte police chief, told ABS-CBN TV that parts of a small elementary school building reportedly collapsed, damaging a parked car while some debris fell from other buildings. At least one bridge was damaged, he said.

The Philippines lies in the so-called “Ring of Fire,” a line of seismic faults surrounding the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common –With reports from Karlos Manlupig and Danilo Adorador II, both of Inquirer Mindanao /atm </s> SINGAPORE: At least one person was killed after an earthquake of magnitude 6.5 struck southwest of the Philippine city of Tacloban on Thursday (Jul 6), the US Geological Survey said, 



The magnitude had been revised from an earlier figure of 6.9.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injury from the quake, which hit at a depth of 6.5km about 580km southwest of the capital, Manila.

No tsunami warning was issued, according to US National Tsunami Warning Centre.

A receptionist at Hotel XYZ told AFP the quake was felt in Tacloban, but did not damage buildings there. "It was far away from here, were are okay," the receptionist said.

A receptionist at a hotel in another part of the city reported the quake was felt but did not cause damage in the area. "We are safe," he said.

In Cebu, the biggest city in the central Philippines, a receptionist at a hotel also said there had been no major damage. But people across the region of mostly farming and fishing communities reported feeling a powerful quake.

Marlon Tano, a Leyte farmer and journalist, told AFP the quake knocked him off his feet at his eggplant farm in Borauen, a town near the quake's epicentre.

"It was so strong that I fell," Tano said. "I saw buses and motorcyles stopping on the highway and people getting off them," he added.

Large parts of the island of Leyte were devastated by super typhoon Haiyan in November 2013. Huge tsunami-like waves devastated the city of Tacloban and nearby areas, leaving 7,350 people dead or missing.

In February, a 6.5-magnitude quake killed eight people and left more than 250 injured outside the southern city of Surigao.

The following month a 5.9-magnitude tremor killed one person there in March.

Before the Surigao quakes, the last lethal earthquake to hit the country was a 7.1-magnitude tremor that left more than 220 people dead and destroyed historic churches when it struck the central islands in October 2013.

The Philippines lies on the so-called Ring of Fire, a vast Pacific Ocean region where many of Earth's quakes and volcanic eruptions occur. </s> (File image for representation only) Cracks appear in and along a road near Quellon, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016, after an earthquake. | AP

MANILA: A powerful 6.5-magnitude earthquake rattled the central Philippines Thursday, US seismologists said, revising an earlier figure of 6.9.

The quake hit at a depth of around six kilometers (four miles), on the central island of Leyte, the US Geological Survey said.

There was no immediate warning of a tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

Marlon Tano, a Leyte farmer and journalist, told AFP the quake knocked him off his feet at his eggplant farm in Borauen, a town near the quake's epicentre.

"It was so strong that I fell," Tano said.

"I saw buses and motorcyles stopping on the highway and people getting off them," he added.

Large parts of the island of Leyte were devastated by super typhoon Haiyan in November 2013.

Huge tsunami-like waves smashed the city of Tacloban and nearby areas, leaving 7,350 people dead or missing.

In February, a 6.5-magnitude quake killed eight people and left more than 250 injured outside the southern city of Surigao.

The following month a 5.9-magnitude tremor killed one person there in March.

Before the Surigao quakes, the last lethal earthquake to hit the country was a 7.1-magnitude tremor that left more than 220 people dead and destroyed historic churches when it struck the central islands in October 2013.

The Philippines lies on the so-called Ring of Fire, a vast Pacific Ocean region where many of Earth's quakes and volcanic eruptions occur. </s> (7th UPDATE) Surigao City's public information officer says some roads and bridges are no longer passable. The quake also damages some buildings and houses.

MANILA, Philippines (7th UPDATE) – A magnitude-6.7 earthquake struck Mindanao Friday night, February 10, leaving at least 6 people dead, local authorities said

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the quake hit at 10:03 pm, its epicenter 14 kilometers north of Surigao City.

The Office of Civil Defense-Caraga (OCD-Caraga) identified the casualties from Surigao City as JM Ariar, Roberto Eludo, Wenefreda Aragon Bernal, Lorenzo Deguino, Wilson Lito, and Roda Justina Taganahan.

The US Geological Survey (USGS), meanwhile, reported a 6.5-magnitude quake, striking 10 kilometers north-northeast of Mabua and some 12 kilometers north-northwest of Surigao, and occurring at a depth of 27 kilometers.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no tsunami threat from the quake.

At least 61 people were injured and 14 were admitted to the Caraga Regional Hospital in Surigao City, OCD-Caraga said on Saturday morning.

Regional civil defense spokeswoman April Sanchez said 7 people were injured in Sison town and 5 were brought to Bad-as Hospital in Placer, Surigao del Norte.

Surigao City public information officer Annette Villaces said some roads and bridges are no longer passable. The quake also damaged some buildings and caused houses to collapse.

Classes in all levels have been called off, along with work in government and private offices in Surigao City.

Phivolcs also reported a number of what appear to be aftershocks following the quake, ranging from 2.0 to 3.9 in magnitude. "There are a lot of cracks on the ground. Some of the bridges have also suffered cracks," said Daphne Agonia, the seismology chief based in Surigao.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) ordered the closure of the Surigao airport Saturday morning, dzMM reported.

In its Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), the CAAP also ordered the closure of Runway 18/36 until March 10, dzBB said.

Meanwhile, Port Police Froilan Caturla said that due to damaged and non-passable bridges leading to Lipata Port, all vessels and port operations will be diverted to the Port of Surigao.

The area's police chief Senior Superintendent Anthony Maghari told dzMM that he saw a schoolhouse had collapsed and that many other buildings had developed cracks.

Maghari added the city was suffering from a power outage and that police were checking for any more casualties.

University professor Rocks Tumadag said many people in Surigao rushed to higher ground after the quake, fearing a tsunami.

He said aftershocks were still rocking the city hours after the quake.

"There was panic in the streets," he told AFP, adding that many structures had sustained damage and rubble littered the streets.

"I was sleeping when the quake happened. There were 10 to 15 seconds of vertical motion."

"When it stopped, I grabbed my youngest daughter and ran outside. My wife also ran outside, my eldest daughter was crying," he said.

"We have a lot of quakes here but this was the strongest ever."

On Saturday morning, CDO-Caraga reported the following damaged stuctures:
• Some houses and walls in Brangays Baya-ag and Biabid in Sison town
• The Surigao State College of Technology and Yuipco Building in Barangay Taft in Surigao City
• Some roads and buildings in Mainit town

"There were reported trapped individuals inside. Rescue efforts are ongoing," the statement said.

Based on initial reports received by OCD-Caraga, the Anao-aon bridge in San Francisco town in Surigao del Norte was damaged. Some residential houses and commercial buildings were also damaged.

"We are not okay. Mass hysteria here," journalist Danilo Adorador was quoted as saying on the website of Mindanews, a southern-based newspaper.

Vance Larena, a tourist in Surigao, told dzMM that glass doors and windows "shattered" during the quake.

"It was a good thing there was a table there (in the room) so we could duck and cover," he said.

Many residents gathered in a field for safety, he said. "The people have calmed down but a while ago some were panicking, women were crying."

– with reports from Voltaire Tupaz, Bobby Lagsa, and Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com </s> A 6.7 magnitude earthquake hit Surigao City on Friday night, which was felt at Intensity Six in the city.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported on its website that the earthquake was recorded at 10:03 p.m., with the epicenter located 14 kilometers northwest of Surigao City, at a depth of four kilometers.

The tremor was felt also felt at Intensity 2 in Bislig, Surigao Del Sur and at Intensity 1 in the cities of Cebu and Cagayan de Oro City.

The earthquake was tectonic in origin, the Philvolcs said.

Philvolcs said it was expecting damage and aftershocks in the affected areas but there was no immediate report yet from disaster authorities in these areas. </s> A strong earthquake measuring 7.2 struck off the coast of Mindanao island in the Philippines on Saturday, and the country’s seismology agency advised people to stay away from coastal areas but expected no major damage.

There were no immediate reports of destruction or casualties, but witnesses said the quake was very strong and shook the ground and walls.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was a risk big waves could spread 300 km (190 miles) away from the epicenter, reaching as far away as Indonesia.

READ MORE: Chile rattled by more than a dozen off-shore earthquakes

The Philippines Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvolcs) said no tsunami warning was issued after a quake it had measured at 7.2. The U.S Geological Survey downgraded its own assessment of the magnitude to 6.8.

The Philippines is on the geologically active Pacific Ring of Fire and experiences frequentearthquakes, particularly in the south, although there were several last month in Batangas on the main island of Luzon, felt also in the capital Manila.

The earthquake was about 57 km (35 miles) southwest of Sarangani province, the southernmost part of Mindanao, the biggest island in the south of the archipelago nation.

“This is the strongest earthquake I have experienced,” she said. “The wall looked like it would fall.”

Philvolcs head Renato Solidum said there was no need to evacuate the area. The quake was at sea, and deep, although the public had been advised to stay away from the coast in the south for the next few hours.

READ MORE: Residents flee after several earthquakes hit southern Philippines (April 8)

Solidum said no major damage was anticipated.

“Many of our southern cities are far from the epicenter so we are not expecting much damage,” he told news channel ANC.

“We have had some aftershocks, we expect that.”

Janet Bongolan, tourism officer at the Tuka Marine Park in Sarangani province, said people spilled out of their homes and into the streets during the earthquake, but most had returned and there was no sign of panic. </s> A strong earthquake measuring 6.8 struck off the coast of the island of Mindanao in the Philippines on Saturday, the country's seismology agency said, and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was a risk of large waves as far away as Indonesia,.

The Philippines Institute of volcanology and seismology said the earthquake was about 57 km southwest of Sarangani. It was felt in most parts of Mindanao, the biggest island in the south of the archipelago nation.

There were no initial reports of damage or casualties.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said hazardous waves could spread 300 km (190 miles) away from the epicentre.

But Renato Solidum, head of the Philippines seismology agency, told Reuters no tsunami warning was issued and there was no need to evacuate the areas affected.

But the agency had issued an advisory saying people could expect a minor drop in the sea level, large waves, and people should steer clear of the coast, he said.
A 6.5 magnitude earthquake strikes 14 kilometers (8 miles) northwest of Surigao City on the Philippines island of Mindanao and kills four people, injures more than 100 others, and damages multiple buildings.