The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) on Friday evening reported a 6.8-magnitude offshore earthquake 43 kilometers southeast of Manay, Davao Oriental.
The seismic event was recorded around 7:12 p.m., hours after the 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck the province at around 9:43 a.m. the same day.
“These two earthquakes…may be possibly considered as a doublet earthquake. They are distinct or different earthquakes in almost the same area with two (or more) main shocks that have slight difference in magnitude,” Phivolcs said in a message to reporters.
“This happens when faults or trenches are causing the stress to trigger a sequence of events,” the state seismology bureau added, saying that it is continuously analyzing the earthquake parameters to further characterize these events.
Tectonic in origin, the latest earthquake had a depth of 37 kilometers.
Intensity VI (very strong) was felt in Manay, while Intensity V (strong) was reported in the Davao Oriental localities of Baganga, Boston, Caraga, Cateel, and Tarragona.
Both damage and aftershocks are expected.
