Magnitude 5 earthquake shakes eastern Visayas

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines–A magnitude 5 earthquake shook eastern Visayas at 8:55 p.m. Tuesday.  No casualties or damage to property have been reported, as of this posting.

Myra Dolina, a technical officer at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology station in Palo, Leyte, said the epicenter of the tremor was located 63 kilometers northeast of Mercedes town in Eastern Samar.

The depth of the quake was 42 kilometers, 11.34 kilometers north and 126.33 kilometers east.

Dolina said the quake was felt at Intensity 5 in Borongan City and Guiuan, both in Eastern Samar; Intensity 4 in Tacloban City, Palo and Tolosa, all in Leyte; Intensity 3 in Saint Bernard, Southern Leyte and Catarman, Northern Samar; and Intensity 2 in Naval, Biliran.

Cherilyn Luban of the Office of the Civil Defense in Eastern Visayas said their office had not monitored any damage to property due to the earthquake.

Intensity 5 is strong enough to wake sleeping people. Intensity 4 means most people indoors feel the movement and hanging objects move. Intensity 3 means many people indoors feel the shaking while Intensity 2 means people at rest would feel the movement.