MANILA, Dec 3 (NNN-PNA) – An offshore earthquake, with a preliminary magnitude of 6.9, rocked Surigao del Sur province, in the southern Philippines last night, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, said.
The institute said, the earthquake, which occurred at 10:37 p.m. local time (GMT 1437), hit at a depth of eight km, about 42 km north-east of Hinatuan town. The tremor also rattled nearby provinces.
The institute warned of destructive tsunamis with life threatening wave heights of more than one metre above normal tides.
Residents living in the coastal areas of Surigao del Sur and Davao Oriental provinces are “strongly advised to immediately evacuate to higher grounds or move farther inland,” the institute added.
Earlier, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) measured the earthquake at 7.7 magnitude.
Philippines has frequent seismic activities due to its location along the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”– NNN-PNA
