Mild quake jolts Samar

An Intensity 5 tectonic earthquake shook Catarman, Northern Samar and Catbalogan, Samar at 1 a.m. yesterday, government seismologists said.

The tremor, which registered a magnitude of 6 on the Richter scale, was also felt at Intensity 4 in Masbate, Masbate; Borongan, Eastern Samar; Tacloban City and Palo, Leyte; Intensity 3 in Irosin, Sorsogon; and Intensity 2 in Lignon Hill, Legazpi City.

The earthquake was triggered by the movement of the Philippine Trench, the "subduction zone" where the archipelago and the Philippine sea plate collide underneath the sea, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

The quake’s epicenter was located at 68 kilometers northeast of Catarman.

The 1 a.m. event was not expected to cause any damage but may be followed by strong aftershocks, Phivolcs said. — Felix de los Santos