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Nature and EnvironmentAsia

Strong earthquake strikes southern Philippines

February 7, 2021

The Philippines has been struck by a magnitude 6.0 earthquake on its southern Mindanao island. Officials are expecting aftershocks and damage.

https://p.dw.com/p/3p0A9
Recordings from a seismograph machine
The earthquake is the third highest category of earthquakeImage: Getty Images/AFP/S. Yeh

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit the southern Philippines on Sunday, the US Geological Service and local officials reported.

No immediate damage or injuries was reported, but the country's seismology experts said they were expecting aftershocks and reports of damage to come in.

An hour later, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake was recorded just off the island of New Guinea.

The first quake struck the southern Philippines province of Davao del Sur where civil defense officials reported strong shaking.

"It was strong, but things did not topple or fall off," Major Peter Glenn Ipong, the police chief of Bansalan near the epicenter, told AFP.

The GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences first said the depth of the earthquake was 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). 

The Philippines' own Institute of Volcanology and Seismology gave a depth of 15 kilometers and said that it had been a tectonic earthquake.

Three deadly earthquakes hit Bansalan within just two weeks in October 2019, killing at least 10 people.

Sitting on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," the Philippines island chain is no stranger to earthquakes, especially in the south of the country.

ab/mm (Reuters, AFP)