3 strong earthquakes shake North Cotabato; 74 houses damaged

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines (UPDATED) - At least 74 houses and a chapel have reportedly been damaged as a third, stronger tremor shook parts of North Cotabato reaching Intensity 4 after noontime Saturday, radio reports said.

Engineer Milo Tabique, assistant chief of the Central Mindanao sub-office of the Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology, said a third, magnitude-5 earthquake affected the province the same day was also of tectonic origin.

Local officials reported that more than 50 houses were damaged in Barangay Luayon in Makilala town in the north of the province, where the noontime earthquake was felt strongest.

Two succeeding low-intensity tremors first hit parts of North Cotabato several hours before.

Tabique said the epicenter of the earlier brief 4.7 magnitude earthquakes was at 15 kilometers southeast of Makilala town in North Cotabato, near the east of Columbio, Sultan Kudarat.

He said the first two tremors were felt by North Cotabato residents at 5:59 a.m. and, subsequently, at 7:09 a.m. on Saturday.

Tabique urged local folks not to panic and listen to their periodic news bulletins through local radio stations.