3.8 quake shakes parts of Metro

MANILA, Philippines - A magnitude 3.8 earthquake shook parts of Metro Manila and nearby areas yesterday but caused no damage, state seismologists said.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the quake occurred at 10:07 a.m. with its epicenter traced at 31 kilometers northeast of Doña Remedios Trinidad in Bulacan.

It was felt at Intensity 3 in the cities of Quezon, Pasig, Makati,  Taguig and Rodriguez and Cainta in Rizal.

Phivolcs’ Ishmael Narag said the tremor was not expected to generate aftershocks.

“It was a small quake. It is not enough to trigger evacuation,” he said.

Narag, however, reminded residents in the metropolis to always prepare for major earthquakes.

He said even if the epicenter of the quake is far from Metro Manila, it could still experience ground shaking.

He said the Ruby Tower in Binondo, Manila collapsed when a 7.3-magnitude tremor hit Casiguran in August 1968.

Yesterday’s tremor has a depth of 13 kms and was tectonic in origin. Tectonic pertains to the movement of the earth’s crust.

Phivolcs director Renato Solidum said the quake was caused by the movement of a local fault.