Magnitude 6.9 quake strikes off southern Philippines

MANILA

A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck off the coast of the southern Philippines early Monday, the United States Geological Survey said, the latest in a slew of strong quakes all concentrated in the same area.

Monday's earthquake hit just before 4:00 am local time, (2000 GMT Sunday), at a depth of 30 kilometres (18 miles), some 72 kilometres northeast of Hinatuan municipality on Mindanao island.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, which recorded the earthquake at a magnitude of 6.7, said there was no risk of a tsunami.

Shortly after, another 5.4 magnitude quake was registered by the USGS in the area, striking 28 kilometres east of Aras-asan at a depth of 43 kilometres.

Two people were killed and there was minor infrastructure damage after a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the area on Saturday, with multiple aftershocks including a 6.6 quake striking in the days since.

That temblor came nearly two weeks after a 6.7 magnitude quake hit Mindanao, killing at least nine people, shaking buildings and causing part of a shopping mall ceiling to collapse.

Quakes are a daily occurrence in the Philippines, which sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic and volcanic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

Most are too weak to be felt by humans.