A strong 6.1 magnitude earthquake rocked central Philippines early Thursday, the US Geological Survey said. The shallow quake struck the Masbate island province in the center of the archipelagic nation shortly after 2:00 a.m. local time (1800GMT).
The epicentre of the earthquake was 11 kilometers (7 miles) away from the nearest village. There were no immediate reports of damages or casualties, and no tsunami warning was issued.
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Earlier this month, another 6.1 magnitude quake had hit a mountainous region in the southeastern Philippines.
The Philippines lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of faults around the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquakes occur, news agency AP reported. It is also hit by about 20 typhoons and tropical storms each year, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.
A magnitude 7.7 quake killed nearly 2,000 people in the northern Philippines in 1990.