According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck in the southern Philippines on Friday without triggering a tsunami warning.
The earthquake struck at 08:14 GMT off the coast of Sarangani province on the island of Mindanao at a depth of 78 kilometers, the USGS said in a statement.
There were no immediate reports of casualties, but the earthquake was felt across much of the mountainous island and authorities warned there could be damage.
“I think it’s the strongest earthquake I’ve ever experienced,” 27-year-old Keeshia Leyran told AFP from Davao City, about 200 km from the epicenter, where she was witnessing it at a conference.
“People around me were panicking and running,” she said, “There were hundreds of people at the event, so to be honest I was more afraid of a commotion.”
Earthquakes occur daily in the Philippines because the archipelago lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a zone of intense seismic and volcanic activity that stretches from Japan to the Pacific Basin through Asia in the southeast.