Manila, Nov 17, (dpa/GNA) – A magnitude 6.8 earthquake jolted the southern Philippines on Friday, damaging commercial buildings and other structures, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
The quake struck at 4:14 pm (0814 GMT), according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHILVOCS).
The epicentre was located north-west of the island of Sarangani, which is off the shore of Mindanao, near General Santos City.
It was felt in several nearby provinces, with the strongest intensity at six, the seismology institute said.
“There are reports of power outages,” said Edgar Posadas, a spokesman for the national disaster agency. “We’re seeing reports of damage to commercial buildings and structures on social media.”
Photos on Facebook showed the collapsed ceiling of a department store in General Santos City. Another video posted on the platform X, formerly Twitter, showed chairs and tables violently shaking, in a fast-food restaurant inside a mall, as trapped customers cried.
Debris, was also seen falling from the ceiling outside the restaurant.
PHILVOCS said although earthquakes of this size may generate unusual sea level disturbances along coasts near the earthquake epicentre, a tsunami warning was not expected.
The Philippines is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where about 90% of the world’s earthquakes occur.
One of the strongest quakes to hit the country was in July 1990, when more than 2,400 people were killed on the northern island of Luzon, in a 7.8-magnitude earthquake.
GNA