Magnitude 4.7 earthquake hits Batangas town

INQUIRER FILES

LUCENA CITY – A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck the waters off Calatagan, Batangas, early Tuesday, June 10, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

The tremor occurred at 12:04 a.m., some 14 kilometers (km) southwest of Calatagan, with a depth of 145 kilometers. The coastal town is located in the Calatagan Peninsula, between the South China Sea and Balayan Bay.

Phivolcs said the earthquake’s instrumental intensities, which are measured by an intensity meter or scale, were logged in the following areas:

Intensity II – Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro; Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro

Intensity I – Calatagan, Batangas

In its update issued at 12:05 a.m., Phivolcs downgraded the earthquake’s magnitude from 5.1 to 4.7 while it updated the earthquake’s depth from 153 kilometers to 145 kilometers.

At least five more earthquakes were also recorded in Calatagan, according to Phivolcs.

A series of tremors were recorded as follows: a magnitude 2.3 quake at 12:13 a.m., a magnitude 2.0 at 12:23 a.m., a magnitude 1.9 at 1:10 a.m., another magnitude 1.9 at 5:50 a.m., and a magnitude 1.8 at 6:32 a.m.

All earthquakes were tectonic in origin. A tectonic earthquake is produced by sudden movement along faults and plate boundaries.

Phivolcs said no damage or aftershocks were expected from the tremors./mcm