MANILA (Reuters) – A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck off the central Philippines on Thursday, damaging buildings and a road near its epicentre, authorities said.
The shallow offshore quake, initially reported as a magnitude 5.9, had a depth of 14 km (8.7 miles) and was off the town of San Francisco in Leyte province, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said in a bulletin.
The agency had recorded at least 45 aftershocks from the tremor.
Police major Barnie Catig, the town’s police chief, said the earthquake was brief but strong.
“It was strong, some of the picture frames in our shelves fell off,” Catig said by phone.
No one was injured but at least 18 houses and government buildings had “minor damage”, Catig said. At least one highway had fissures from the tremor but remained passable, he said.
“We’re still conducting a full assessment,” Catig said.
Earthquakes are common in the Philippines, which is located in the Pacific Ocean’s “Ring of Fire”, where volcanic activity and earthquakes frequently occur.
(Reporting by Mikhail Flores; Editing by Kim Coghill and Stephen Coates)
