Two strong earthquakes rock Philippine capital; no damage or tsunami

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Two strong earthquakes rocked the Philippine capital and nearby provinces nearly simultaneously Saturday, but no damage or tsunami alerts were reported, a senior seismologist said. Renato Solidum, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, said a "moderately strong" tremor struck at 11:04 a.m. Saturday followed by a "stronger one" five minutes later. The temblors struck off the coast of Mamburao township in Mindoro Occidental province, about 170 kilometers south of Manila, Solidum said. He said the earthquakes would not generate tsunamis because they were centered too deep underground. The first quake had a magnitude 5.3 and was centered 81 kilometers underground and the stronger magnitude 6.5 was about 107 kilometers deep.