The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has detected a magnitude 5.3 earthquake off the coast of Davao Occidental early Wednesday morning, July 21.
Phivolcs traced the epicenter of the tremor at 175 kilometers southeast of Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental around 4:26 a.m.
Its instruments registered the quake at Intensity II in General Santos City and Kiamba, Sarangani.
Phivolcs said the earthquake was tectonic in origin, which means the tremor was caused by the movement of an active fault near the area.
While it does not expect damage due to this earthquake, Phivolcs said aftershocks are likely to occur.