However, a shallower second quake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale struck nearly three hours later within the neighboring municipality of New Bataan, causing some houses to collapse.
Lynne Dollolasa, Bataan’s latest disaster officer, said nearly 300 people were forced to flee their homes within the village of Andap, where “many homes collapsed.”
About 100 people at a shopping center in Tagum City, in neighboring Davao del Norte province, were hit by falling glasses and plates as they were leaving the constructing, said Jay Suaybaguio, provincial information officer.
“I used to be on the third floor buying office supplies when suddenly the earthquake hit,” Suaybaguio told AFP.
“When we reached the first floor, we saw broken bottles of wine and spices. The lights went out, but the hazard warning lights came on, which helped us find our way.”
Photos posted on the Davao del Norte disaster agency’s Facebook page show collapsed sections of ceilings at Tagum Mall, which was attributed to a “series of earthquakes.”
The Davao del Norte government suspended work and activities on Tuesday and Wednesday to permit for inspections of public buildings and infrastructure.
The first quake lasted about 30 seconds, followed by aftershocks, said Corporal Stephanie Clemen, a police officer in Tagum, about 40 km (25 miles) from Maragusan.
“We immediately went under our desks and when the ground stopped shaking, we went straight outside,” Clemen said.
“We’re still outside because a moderate aftershock just hit.”
Although the quake didn’t appear to break anything, Clemen said it was strong enough to “cause fear.”
Earthquakes are a each day occurrence within the Philippines, which sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic and volcanic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and the Pacific basin.
Most earthquakes are too weak to be felt by humans, but strong and destructive earthquakes occur randomly and there isn’t any technology available to predict when or where they may occur.
The National Office of Civil Defense often organizes earthquake exercises along lively fault lines.
The last major earthquake occurred in October within the northern Philippines.
A 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit the mountain town of Dolores in Abra province, injuring several people, damaging buildings and cutting off electricity to much of the region.
A 7.0-magnitude quake in mountainous Abra last July triggered landslides and cracks in the bottom, killing 11 people and injuring lots of.
