In two earthquakes, eight people have been killed and around 60 more injured in the Philippines. The two earthquakes of magnitude 5.4 and 5.9 occurred this morning at a distance of just under four hours, as the US earthquake USGS announced.
They shook the province of Batanes, a sparsely populated island group in the north of the largest Philippine island of Luzon.
According to the earthquake station Phivolcs, the epicenter was located near the town of Itbayat in the province of Batanes, just under 700 kilometers north of the capital Manila. The first quake occurred at 4:16 local time, a tsunami warning was not issued.
Houses damaged, electricity turned off
The quake had damaged numerous houses and buildings, it said. The population of the city – nearly 3,000 people – had been taken from their homes to a public square. For safety, the power was turned off. Most people were surprised by the quake in their sleep. The archipelago is also frequented by tourists.
The Philippines is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where around 90 percent of all earthquakes occur worldwide. In the last major earthquake in the country with a magnitude of 7.1, more than 220 people were killed in October 2013
