MANILA, Philippines — A series of earthquakes hit Mindanao from early afternoon of Thursday until the early hours of Friday with the strongest, an intensity 5.7 earthquake, rocking Surigao City shortly before midnight of Thursday causing power outages in some parts of the city and the towns of Cantilan and Carrascal in Surigao del Sur. Phivolcs said the 5.7 quake of tectonic origin occurred at 11:11 p.m. with epicenter at 54 kilometers east of Surigao City.
The quake caused residents of Surigao City to run out of their homes and panic among farm animals, according to Office of Civil Defense Northeastern Mindanao Regional Director Blanche T. Gobenciong.
No casualty was reported immediately after the quakes, said Gobenciong.
“We are still verifying the result of the tremor last night,” she said.
According the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), a magnitude 4.5 earthquake was recorded at 5:09 p.m. with its epicenter located at 12 kilometers northwest of Carrascal, Surigao del Sur, with a depth of 8 kilometers.
Another temblor of magnitude 3.9 occurred at 5:27 p.m. with its epicenter located at 54 kilometers northwest of Tandag, Surigao del Sur, with a depth of one kilometer.
At 5:41 p.m. Thursday, a magnitude 4.1 quake occurred with epicenter located at 23 kilometers southeast of Jabonga, Agusan Del Norte, at a depth of 18 kilometers.
A magnitude 5.6 quake occurred at 8:52 p.m. Thursday with its epicenter at 240 kilometers southeast of General Santos City at a depth of 60 kilometers.
At 10:27 p.m. Thursday another earthquake was recorded at magnitude 3.3 with epicenter located at 12 kilometers northeast of Carrascal, Surigao Del Sur, at a depth of one kilometer.
Several mild quakes were also recorded in the early hours of morning of Friday.
A 3.4 tremor was recorded at 12:03 a.m. Friday northwest of Carrascal in Surigao del Sur while a 3.7 intensity quake was also recorded at 12:54 a.m. of that same day northeast of Jabonga, in Agusan del Norte province, Phivolcs said.
The Philippine Information Agency reported that the quake damaged power lines causing power outages in several areas covered by the Surigao Del Norte Electric Cooperative.
“However, electric power was already restored in Surigao Friday morning,” a PIA official said.
Mike Crismundo & Freddie Lazaro, Manila Bulletin