6.2 magnitude quake strikes off southern Philippines

A 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck off the southern Philippines on Monday, the US Geological Survey said, a week after a stronger quake in the same region killed at least 65 people.

The quake hit off the coast of Mindanao island at 5:18 pm (0918 GMT) at a depth of 112 kilometres (69.5 miles), the USGS reported. The national seismology agency said no tsunami warning was issued.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, Kaiser Cadiz, of the Davao Oriental provincial disaster office, told AFP, calling it a “moderate” quake.

“Our priority now is to monitor the coast to determine if there are indications the water had receded (an indicator of an impending tsunami),” she said, adding that none had been observed so far.

The 7.8 magnitude tremor that hit Mindanao on June 8 brought down buildings, triggered landslides and displaced thousands on the southern island, while also setting off tsunami warnings across the region.

A series of powerful aftershocks rocked the area from about two hours after the first quake, including a 6.5 magnitude tremor.

The national disaster agency raised the death toll from that quake to 65 on Monday, with at least 36 still missing.

The environment department said on Sunday the June 8 quake had also forced the seabed upwards by two metres (6.6 feet) in one coastal area, pushing previously submerged coral above the water and extending the shoreline by as much as 200 metres.

Earthquakes are a near-daily occurrence in the Philippines, which is situated on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

The Cotabato Trench, which lies as close as 50 kilometres (31 miles) off the coast of southern Mindanao, is the site of frequent seismic activity, including a “swarm” of thousands of mostly small earthquakes recorded in January.

Eastern Mindanao was rocked by a pair of earthquakes of magnitudes 7.4 and 6.7 in October that killed at least eight people.