Quakes jolt Mindanao

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 24, 2010) – Four earthquakes shook Mindanao on Saturday morning, but there were no reports of injuries or serious damage to structures in the southern Philippine region, the United States Geological Survey said.

It said the earthquakes hit in quick succession in the Moro Gulf. The magnitudes of the earthquakes were recorded at 7.3 at a depth of a little over 604 kilometers whose epicenter was located 102 kilometers southwest of Cotabato; 5.4 at a depth of 594.8 kilometers and the epicenter was located 95 kilometers west-southwest of Cotabato.

The third earthquake, whose magnitude was 7.6, occurred at a depth of 576.3 kilometers. Its epicenter was traced 115 kilometers southwest of Cotabato and the fourth had a 7.4 magnitude at a depth of 616.7 kilometers and epicenter was located 121 kilometers southwest of Cotabato. It was felt in several areas near Cotabato.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center based in Hawaii said the earthquake did not generate tsunami.

The Philippines sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a 40,000-kilometer area where large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific Ocean. It has more than 400 volcanoes and sometimes called the circum-Pacific seismic belt. (With a report from Mark Navales)