6.0-magnitude earthquake hits southern Philippines

A strong earthquake hit the southern Philippines on Sunday, though there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, the US Geological Service and local officials said.

The 6.0-magnitude quake struck the town of Bansalan on Mindanao island at 12:22 pm (0422 GMT), the USGS said in a bulletin.

The Philippines Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvolcs) said it recorded the depth at 15 km, adding that the earthquake was tectonic.

According to Major Peter Glenn Ipong, the police chief of Bansalan, "It was strong, but things did not topple or fall off.''

Ipong and civil defence officials in the region reported strong shaking but said there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The USGS in an earlier bulletin put the epicentre two kilometres east of the neighbouring town of Magsaysay before revising the location to Bansalan.

The Philippines is regularly rocked by quakes due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

The region around Bansalan, a town of 60,000 people, was struck by three deadly quakes over a two-week period in October 2019, killing at least 10 people.