A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck Mindanao in the southern Philippines early Friday, days after two powerful earthquakes caused the death of at least 7 people and triggered a tsunami warning. The National Centre for Seismology (NCS) reported that the tremor occurred at 07:03 am (04:33 IST) with no immediate reports of injuries or significant damage. Local disaster management authorities are assessing the impact and monitoring for possible aftershocks.
The epicenter of the earthquake is situated at latitude 9.73°N and longitude 126.20°E, at a depth of 90 kilometers, as per the agency’s report. On October 10, twin tremors hit the Mindanao region, with the first earthquake registering a magnitude of 7.4, resulting in casualties, landslides, and evacuations due to a tsunami warning. A second earthquake of magnitude 6.8 followed, prompting another tsunami alert, both attributed to movement along the Philippine Trench, an undersea fault line off the eastern coast of Mindanao.
Teresito Bacolcol, the head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), stated that the two earthquakes originated about 37 kilometers beneath the seabed near Manay town in Davao Oriental province. The country is still recovering from a 6.9 magnitude earthquake on September 30, which caused significant fatalities and displacements in the central province of Cebu.
The Philippines, located along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” is prone to frequent seismic activity and volcanic eruptions due to tectonic plate movements in the region.