7.6-magnitude earthquake strikes offshore from southern Philippines; may cause tsunami

Manila | An offshore earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 hit off a southern Philippine province Friday morning, and a hazardous tsunami was possible nearby.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said it was expecting damage and aftershocks from the earthquake, which was centred at sea about 62 kilometres southeast of Manay town in Davao Oriental province and was caused by movement in a fault at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu said hazardous waves were possible within 300 kilometres of the epicentre.

It said waves up to 3 metres above normal tides were possible on some Philippine coasts near the epicentre. Smaller waves were possible in Indonesia and Palau.

The Philippines is still recovering from a September 30 earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 that left at least 74 people dead and displaced thousands of people in the central province of Cebu, particularly Bogo city and outlying towns.

One of the world's most disaster-prone countries, the Philippines is often hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because of its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of seismic faults around the ocean.

The archipelago also is lashed by about 20 typhoons and storms each year, making disaster response a major task of the government and volunteer groups