Magnitude 6.6 earthquake strikes off Davao Occidental

A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck off the coast of the southern Philippine province of Davao Occidental on Friday evening, June 26, shaking a wide area of Mindanao island. The tremor occurred at 7:34 p.m. local time, with its epicenter located 90 kilometers south of Balut Island in the municipality of Sarangani, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

The earthquake was tectonic in origin and had a shallow depth of 10 kilometers. The strongest shaking, registered at Intensity V on the Philippine seismic scale, was reported in the Sarangani town of Kiamba. Instrumental monitoring also recorded Intensity V in Malapatan, Sarangani, and T'boli, South Cotabato. Numerous other towns and cities across the provinces of Sarangani, Davao Occidental, Davao del Sur, Davao de Oro, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and Cotabato felt lighter intensities ranging from IV to I.

As of Friday night, there were no immediate reports of casualties or significant damage from the quake. Authorities continue to assess the situation. The seismic event occurred in a region still recovering from a more powerful earthquake less than three weeks prior. On June 8, a magnitude 7.8...