6.9-magnitude quake hits Pawican, Philippines: USGS

08:33, August 18, 2020

• 

  6.9-magnitude quake strikes off Indonesia: USGS

  File photo: CGTNA 6.9-magnitude quake struck eastern Indonesia on Friday, the US Geological Survey reported, but there was no tsunami warning issued and no immediate reports of casualties or major damage.The undersea tremor struck at a depth of more than 600 kilometres (375 miles) about 220 kilometres south of Katabu on the island of Sulawesi, the agency said, with reports that it was felt hundreds of kilometres away from the epicentre.Deep quakes tend to cause less damage than shallow ones.

• 

  5.3-magnitude quake hits 62 km SW of Surab, Pakistan: USGS

  File photo: AgenciesAn earthquake with a magnitude of 5.3 jolted 62 km southwest of Surab, Pakistan at 22:40:45 GMT on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said.The epicenter, with a depth of 10.96 km, was initially determined to be at 27.9781 degrees north latitude and 65.9996 degrees east longitude.

• 

  One dead as strong quake hits central Philippines

  A 6.6-magnitude earthquake shook the central Philippines on Tuesday, sending residents fleeing their homes and damaging buildings and roads, with at least one person killed. Photo: AFPThe shallow quake struck southeast of Masbate Island in the Bicol region at 8:03 am (0003 GMT), the US Geological Survey said."There are a lot of damaged houses," said Staff Sergeant Antonio Clemente in Cataingan, a town of about 50,000 people on the impoverished island several kilometres west of the epicentre in the Samar Sea."It was really strong."Local radio station reporter Christopher Decamon said he saw emergency workers pull the body of a man from the rubble of a three-storey house on the outskirts of Cataingan. The mans wife escaped unharmed.The earthquake "was really strong. Our people were broadcasting at the time but they just ran out of the building," Decamon told AFP by telephone.Police confirmed the mans death. So far there have no other reports of casualties but search and rescue efforts are still under way.The quake struck as the archipelago battles surging numbers of coronavirus infections, with more than 164,000 cases and restrictions on movement that vary across the country.A lockdown affecting a quarter of the population, including the capital Manila, will be eased Wednesday. In Masbates Palanas town, police chief Captain Alvin Guerina told AFP that several patients, including a pregnant woman about to go into labour, were evacuated from a hospital as a precaution in case of aftershocks.So far at least 14 aftershocks have been recorded by the Philippine seismology office, with the strongest registering at a magnitude 3.5.DizzyingA video posted on Facebook and verified by AFP shows light damage to a food market in Cataingan.Overturned buckets and small fish were scatted on the ground and chunks of cement had fallen from a pillar. People stood outside on the street.Philippine Red Cross chairman Richard...