One of the strong 6.7-magnitude earthquakes hit the southern Philippines on Wednesday morning when a jolt struck the southern Philippines, sending tremors throughout Mindanao island and forcing Filipinos in Davao City and the neighboring provinces to leave their houses and crawl in fear.
The earthquake’s onset was at 3:03 a.m. UTC, with the source of the earthquake located approximately 68 kilometers east of Baculin in the province of Davao Oriental. The shallow bottom of the earthquake shook at 10 kilometers depth, which often enhances the intensity of shaking, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS).
Local Response and Immediate Impact
Davao City, one of the Philippines’s most populous urban areas, experienced a powerful earthquake. Witnesses said there was an ongoing swaying for nearly 40 seconds. In the coastal city of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur, members of local police said while the shaking was not “destructively violent,” its duration had resulted in a mass evacuation from buildings. “It wasn’t that strong per se, but the duration of the shaking prompted people to sprint outside to the streets,” said Joey Monato, local police chief of Hinatuan.
Current Situation Report:
- Casualties: By 9:00 AM IST, no death and serious injuries have been reported.
- Infrastructure: Speed assessments of damage is ongoing. Initial reports suggest some cracks of older structures and temporary power flickers in portions of Davao Oriental. Aviation Davao International Airport still in service, runway no damage reported, and no impact on flight dates.
Tsunami Threats and Aftershocks
Despite the large scale and the offshore location of the epicenter, no tsunami warning has been issued for the Philippines or neighboring Indonesia. PHIVOLCS reported from here that the tectonic motion itself did not pump enough water out of line to create the dangerous waves. But the agency has cautioned the public not to remain overly cautious. “As for the effects [of this offshore tremor], damage and aftershocks are anticipated,” PHIVOLCS said in its preliminary bulletin. Residents have been told to also check their houses for structural integrity before returning to their homes, particularly in areas where Intensity V or higher has been measured.
Geology: The Ring of Fire:
The Philippines sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” when it turns into an arc of faults around the Pacific Ocean that generates most of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Davao is especially located in a vulnerable area near the Philippine Trench, a deep undersea trench of the Philippine Sea Plate. This recent tectonic quake comes, after a relatively slight series of early-month tremor, including a 5.1-magnitude tremor on New Year’s Day, which illustrates the continuing tectonic instability in the southern Mindanao region.
