Magnitude 7.0 earthquake strikes northern Philippines world and science

The magnitude of the earthquake was 7.0AFP PHOTO / Mountain Province Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office

Posted on 07/27/2022 08:30

An earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale hit the northern Philippines on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said, while residents of the capital, Manila, reported that buildings shook.

The shallow epicenter was in Abra County on the main island of Luzon at 8:43 a.m. Wednesday local time (9:43 p.m. Tuesday ET). The USGS initially reported a strength of 6.8, but later updated it to 7.1.

Police Major Edwin Sergio told AFP that in Dolores, feeling the full force of the quake, panicked people fled their buildings and windows of a local supermarket were smashed.

“The earthquake was very strong,” Sergio said, adding that small cracks appeared in the walls of the police station. Initially, no injuries or serious damages were reported from the quake.

The Philippines is frequently subject to earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of intense seismic activity that extends from Japan to Southeast Asia and the Pacific Rim.