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Mild tremors jot southern Philippines as tsunami spares the country
27/12/2004 14:20

Mild tremors jolt the northern and southern Philippines after the killer tsunami which destroyed some Asian coasts Sunday has spared the disaster-ridden country due to geographical location.

Two mild earthquakes hit Bataan in the northern Luzon island and Davao in the southern Mindanao island early Monday, said Philippine seismology officials.

A quake hit Bataan at 4:08 a.m. local time (20:00 pm GMT Sunday), with the epicenter believed to be in Olongapo City north of Bataan city. It was estimated that it had the magnitude of 4.7 of richter scale.

Romy Tabanlar, science research specialist of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), said the quake was tectonic in origin, and triggered possibly by a movement in the Manila trench.

A similar quake hit Davao City at 4:50 a.m. (20:50 pm GMT Sunday) and was strongly felt at its epicenter located in Mati, Davao Oriental.

PHIVOLCS said the possible source of the quake, also of tectonic origin, may be a movement in the Philippine trench. The institute estimated the quake had a magnitude of 5.0 of richter scale.

Officials said the earthquakes were not connected with the massive underwater earthquake that caused tsunamis in southern Asia Sunday.

Experts said the Philippines was spared by tsunami on Sunday because the peninsula consisting of southern tip of Thailand, western Malaysia and western Indonesia had absorbed the shock wave. But they warned the Philippines to be vigilant against possible incoming tsunamis as the country was vulnerable to such oceanic devastation due to numerous ocean-land trenches nearby.



 Xinhua