A strong magnitude-6.4 earthquake has struck Davao Oriental on Wednesday morning, rattling many parts of the Davao region, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has reported.
The state seismic agency initially measured the quake at magnitude-6.7, but downgraded it to 6.4 after review. No tsunami warning was raised and no casualties or serious damage to infrastructure have been reported either.
Phivolcs said the tremor was located about 55 kilometers southeast of Manay. Multiple intensities have been recorded across the Davao region and neighboring provinces.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) also first reported the quake at magnitude 6.7, adding it hit at a depth of 58.5 kilometers (36 miles) about 27 kilometers east of the town of Santiago on the island of Mindanao.
“There was shaking. I saw some of the cars moving, but I think it was only for a short time, around five seconds,” Nash Paragas, a rescuer in the eastern province of Davao Oriental, told Agence France Presse (AFP).
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Davao Region said it has allowed employees to work undertime, so they can go home to check their respective families amid expected aftershocks.
DSWD Davao Regional Director Rhuelo Aradanas added that their office had been placed on standby to render possible emergency assistance.
In Carmen and Panabo, Davao Del Norte the local government units issued executive orders to suspend all face-to-face classes in all levels public and private for the safety of all teachers and students.
Nabunturan and Mabini in Davao De Oro also suspended classes in all levels both in public and private.
Eastern Mindanao was rocked by a pair of earthquakes of 7.4 and 6.8 magnitude in October 2025 that killed at least eight people.
These followed a magnitude 6.9 quake days earlier that killed 76 people and destroyed or damaged 72,000 houses in Cebu province in central Philippines, according to government figures.
In a message to members of the media late Wednesday evening, Phivolcs added the latest seismic activity among the recorded aftershocks from the October tremors.
Earthquakes are a near-daily occurrence in the Philippines, which is situated on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin. —With Agence France Presse
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated.
