Magnitude 6.6 quake strikes near Philippines

updated 3:54 p.m. ET Aug. 20, 2007

MANILA, Philippines - A magnitude 6.6 earthquake rattled an undersea area off the southern Philippines on Monday, scientists said. No injuries or damage were immediately reported, and no tsunami warning was issued.

Renato Solidum of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology said the quake hit at around 9:36 p.m. and was centered 130 miles southeast of Mati township in Davao Oriental province, in the Philippine Trench at a depth of six miles.

It was felt in several provinces, but the intensity of the shaking was described as not strong, Solidum said. No tsunami warning was issued. Several aftershocks were reported.

Minda Morante, who heads the government’s Office of Civil Defense in southern Davao city, said she felt the quake on her second-floor office.

“It was just a faint nudge. I’m not expecting any damage,” she said.

The Philippine archipelago lies along the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where earthquakes and volcanic activities are common.

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