OLONGAPO City, Philippines–A 5.9-magnitude earthquake shook Zambales and other parts of Central Luzon and Metro Manila early morning Tuesday, but local and disaster response officials said there were no reports of casualties or damage.
The ground shaking brought about by the earthquake described as moderate roused residents here at 1:15 a.m. A bulletin from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the quake’s epicenter was 35 kilometers southwest of Iba, Zambales.
It was felt at Intensity 5 in Iba, San Felipe and Santa Cruz towns in Zambales; Intensity 4 in the Clark Freeport in Pampanga; Obando, Bulacan; Quezon City; Manila; Alabang, Muntinlupa; and Bacoor, Cavite.
Residents in the cities of Makati, Pasig, Taguig, Mandaluyong, Tagaytay and Cabanatuan and Guiguinto (in Bulacan), felt the earthquake at Intensity 3.
Phivolcs said the earthquake was also felt in Baguio City at Intensity 2.
The earthquake was followed by three tremors that struck between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., also on Tuesday. These minor earthquakes struck at 2:12 a.m. (magnitude 3.9), 3:10 a.m. (magnitude 4) and 3:34 a.m. (magnitude 2.8). Their epicenters were also located southwest of Iba, near the epicenter of the first earthquake.
Fermino Waje, a resident of Barangay (village) Gordon Heights here, said he was awake when the first earthquake struck.
“My family was already asleep at that time. When the ground shook, it [jolted] my wife and woke her up immediately. [In a daze], she wanted to run [out of the house] but I held her back,” said Waje.
“[It was] really strong, but the good thing is that it was just short. It was like it just passed by,” Waje said.
Waje said his neighbors were awakened by the quake. “I could hear some of their things falling to the floor. In our house, that did not happen,” he said.
His neighbor, Pearl Mendoza, however, said she woke her family members when the earthquake struck.
“It really made me feel nervous. It was scary. The kids were not as scared as I was because they were still [dazed] from sleep. When the quake stopped, they still did not know what happened,” she said.
Governor Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said reports he received showed that the earthquake did not damage buildings and houses in Zambales.
“[But the quake happened] offshore, so we’re looking to see if there are unusual events in the shoreline areas,” Ebdane said.
Phivolcs recorded at least 12 earthquakes with epicenters in the Zambales towns of Iba, Palauig and San Antonio in July and nine in May.