No damage reported in Visayas after 6.6 earthquake

TACLOBAN CITY –– No damage was recorded in the Visayas following the 6.6 magnitude earthquake that originated near Masbate on Tuesday morning.

“It was strong, but there was no damage in our town,” said Joe Louis Gajutos, disaster risk reduction management officer of Mapanas town in Northern Samar, which felt the tremor at Intensity 4.

In Cebu City, private and government employees moved out of their respective offices for about 15 minutes while waiting for their security officers to check any damage on the buildings.

In Bohol, people hardly felt the tremor.

“I didn’t even notice it until someone told me that there was an earthquake,” a resident said.

The 8:03 a.m. earthquake was centered five kilometers southwest of Cataingan town in Masbate and shook parts of central Philippines, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

Intensity 4 tremors were reported in Mapanas, Northern Samar; Legazpi City, Albay; Lezo in Aklan; Palo, Leyte; Roxas City; and Naval, Biliran, Phivolcs said.

Intensity 3 was felt in Iloilo City, Bago City, Malinao in Aklan, Jamindan in Capiz, and Ormoc City; and Intensity 2 in Gumaca, Quezon; City of Sipalay, Negros Occidental; Valderrama, Antique; Sipocot, Camarines Sur; Talibon, Bohol; and San Francisco, Cebu.

President Roxas in Capiz, Malay in Aklan, and the City of Gingoog, Misamis Oriental experienced the quake at Intensity 1.

LZB