A magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit Calatagan town in Batangas on Thursday morning with the tremor felt across Luzon, including Metro Manila, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.
Although no major damage was reported from the quake as of press time, the temblor shook parts of the National Capital Region, including major transport systems, sending people streaming out of buildings weeks after the most recent national earthquake drill.
The runway at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport was closed for inspection, temporarily halting its operations, along with other airports and the railways crisscrossing the big city.
In a statement, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said the building and equipment at San Jose Airport in Mindoro, across the sea from Batangas, did not sustain major damage.
The cracks found in two stations of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) following the earthquake are “no cause for alarm,” the Department of Transportation said in a statement.
Phivolcs director Teresito Bacolcol said the earthquake possibly came from Manila Trench due to the depth of its tectonic origin. The agency did not issue any tsunami warning following the quake.
Meanwhile, Calatagan Mayor Peter Palacio said no significant damages were observed in their town, but tasked municipal engineers to check the town hall and other structures.
Classes in some schools in the town were suspended, but government offices remained open to the public, according to Palacio, who warned residents of Calatagan to watch out for aftershocks.
The US Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at a depth of 112 kilometres (77 miles) at around 10:00 am (0200 GMT) in waters off Calatagan town, about three hours’ drive from the capital Manila.
The quake was caused by the movement of the Manila Trench, a major earthquake generator located offshore west of Luzon island, which is roughly parallel to the Philippine archipelago and is running from Taiwan to Occidental Mindoro, Phivolcs said.
Intensity 4 was felt in Manila, Mandaluyong, Quezon and Valenzuela cities; Bulacan’s Malolos; Batangas’ Batangas City, Ibaan, Lemery, Nasugbu and Talisay; Cavite’s cities of Dasmariñas and Tagaytay, and Rizal’s Tanay.
Intensity 3 was experienced in Pateros, the cities of Las Piñas, Makati, Marikina, Parañaque and Pasig; Bulacan’s Obando; Batangas’ Laurel; Cavite’s cities of Bacoor and Imus; Laguna’s cities of San Pablo and San Pedro, and Rizal’s San Mateo.
Caloocan, San Juan and Muntinlupa; La Union’s San Fernando City; Pangasinan’s Alaminos City and Bolinao; Bulacan’s Santa Maria, and Tarlac’s Bamban had intensity 2, while Bulacan’s San Jose del Monte City only felt intensity 1.
Calatagan police chief Emil Mendoza said he and his staff rushed outside following the tremor.
“It was a bit strong. We had to run outside,” Mendoza told Agence France-Presse.
While there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, disaster authorities had been deployed to assess the earthquake’s impact, Mendoza said.
Calatagan disaster officer Ronald Torres said the quake lasted between 30 seconds and a minute.
The state seismological agency warned of aftershocks but ruled out tsunami waves due to the tremor’s depth.
The earthquake sent people rushing out of buildings in the capital.
Runways and taxiways at NAIA were temporarily closed at around 10:23 a.m. for authorities to inspect for any damage to the pavement, according to the DoTr.
Senate committee on public works and highways chairperson Sen. Bong Revilla described as “alarming” the strong earthquake.
“We know how important public infrastructure is in times of crisis. It is where people would run to seek refuge — hospitals, streets, covered courts, gyms, and others,” said Revilla.
“This is why I urge key government instrumentalities to immediately be on the ground to assess the damage to these public infrastructures, and to urgently address pressing concerns that may endanger the safety and lives of our countrymen,” noted the senator.
Images on social media verified by AFP showed a crane truck at a Manila port as it swayed from the force of the tremor.
Diego Mariano, information officer at the civil defence office, said authorities were still assessing the impact of the quake.
“As of now, no major damage or casualties as of reporting time. Assessment still ongoing,” Mariano told reporters in a message.
Quakes are a daily occurrence in the Philippines, which sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of intense seismic as well as volcanic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
In October 2013, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Bohol Island in the central Philippines, triggering landslides and killing more than 200 people.
Old churches in the birthplace of Catholicism in the Philippines were badly damaged. Nearly 400,000 were displaced and tens of thousands of houses were damaged due to the quake.
In 1990, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in the northern Philippines created a ground rupture that stretched over a hundred kilometres, causing severe damage and killing more than 1,200 people.
