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.