Disaster officials were monitoring the effects of a magnitude 6.1 earthquake that struck off the coast of Sarangani, Davao Occidental early Saturday morning, Jan. 22.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said it has alerted the Regional DRRM office in Davao (Region 11) to conduct an initial damage assessment.
“As of this moment, no reported effects caused by the earthquake. However, the and Region 11 are continuously monitoring the situation,” the NDRRMC information office told reporters.
There were also no report of casualty as of posting time.
According to the Philippine Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), the epicenter was traced 275 km southeast of Balut Island in Sarangani, Davao Occidental at 10:26 a.m.
It was initially recorded to be a magnitude 6.5 quake but the Phivolcs revised it to magnitude 6.1.
In a separate advisory, the NDRRMC said that aftershocks and damages “are expected.”
Intensity III was felt in Sarangani, Davao Occidental while Intensity I was recorded in Lebak, Sultan Kudarat. Instrumental Intensity I was also noted in General Santos City.
Residents in the affected areas were told to exercise caution due to anticipated aftershocks.