DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 4 December ) – Less than 48 hours since the Magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Surigao del Sur Saturday night, another powerful earthquake at Magnitude 6.8 hit the province at 3:49 a.m. Monday, December 4, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.
The epicenter of Saturday’s quake was in Hinatuan town while today’s was in Cagwait municipality.
No damages were reported in connection with the 6.8 earthquake.
However, the Philippine News Agency and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines reported power interruptions minutes after the earthquake due to a cut on a transmission line.
The power interruption affected Tandag City and the municipalities of Cortes, Tago, San Miguel, Bayabas, Cagwait, Marihatag, San Agustin, and Lianga in Surigao del Sur.
Power transmission services were partially restored at around 5:40 a.m. Monday.
The temblor before dawn Monday was of tectonic origin, at an extremely shallow depth of just one kilometer, Phivolcs said.
The epicenter of the earthquake was located approximately 67 kilometers northeast of Cagwait.
The tremor was felt at Intensity V in Cagwait, Intensity IV in Tandag, Surigao del Sur and Tarragona, Davao Occidental, and Intensity III in the cities of Iligan (Lanao del Norte) Cagayan de Oro (Misamis Oriental) and Mati (Davao Oriental) and in the towns of Banaybanay and Lupon in Davao Oriental.
No tsunami alerts were released from the said earthquake.
Since the Hinatuan earthquake on Saturday night, hundreds of aftershocks were recorded between 10:37 p.m. up to 10:03 a.m. on Monday, 47 of them at or above Magnitude 4.
Phivolcs raised a tsunami warning minutes after the Hinatuan earthquake but lifted it at 3:23 a.m. on Sunday. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)