Temblor shakes Legazpi, Masbate

LEGAZPI CITY — An Intensity 4 earthquake emanating from the Masbate segment of the Philippine fault zone jolted Masbate and this city before midnight Friday, government seismologists said.

The temblor, whose epicenter was 55 kilometers south of Masbate, was also felt at about 11:30 p.m. at Intensity 2 in Palo, Leyte, and at Intensity 1 in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, according to Helma Canon, science research assistant of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

It registered a magnitude of 4.9 on the Richter scale.

No damage was reported here, although the quake sent city folk panicking as 45 booths at the Peñaranda Park, put up as part of the month-long Magayon Festival, swayed for about a minute while a live band was performing.

Last Feb. 15, an Intensity 7 temblor shook Masbate, causing damage placed at P12 million. — Celso Amo