Davao Oriental: Earthquake of magnitude 5.9 jolts Mindanao island in Philippines

Seismology agency said reports damage are expected after the earthquake

File Filipinos celebrate Easter on Sunday, An earthquake was recorded waters off Manay in Davao Oriental, a province in Philippine’s Mindanao island on Tuesday (Getty Images)

An earthquake measuring 5.9 magnitude on the Richter scale struck waters off Davao Oriental, a province in Philippine’s Mindanao island, on Tuesday morning.

The tectonic earthquake was recorded 54km off the Manay region of the island at 9.23am local time, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

Phivolcs said damage and aftershocks are expected after the earthquake.

No injuries or damage from the earthquake have been reported yet by the authorities.

Following the seismic activity, the US embassy in the Philippines issued an alert for the Americans in Davao Oriental, urging them to register with the state department’s program to locate individuals in case of emergency.

“There are reports of an earthquake near #DavaoOriental, Philippines. U.S. citizens in the area please contact your family/friends and follow @phivolcs_dost for more updates,” it said in a tweet.

The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) measured the earthquake at 6 magnitude with a shallow depth of 10km.

Separately, similar tectonic activities were in the Asian continent’s another country Japan and further east in Oceania’s Tonga on Tuesday Morning.

An earthquake of magnitude 5.3 hit Japan’s northeastern Fukushima Prefecture, the national broadcaster NHK said. However, no tsunami warning has been issued yet. It was reported at around 8.16am local time with a lower intensity of 5 in northern Ibaraki, while parts of Ibaraki, Fukushima, Tochigi and Saitama prefectures registered a 4.

In Tonga, an earthquake measuring 5.9 on richter scale shook the island with a quake at a depth of 80 Kms, EMSC said.