ONE person was killed and several others were injured Sunday when a powerful aftershock hit Surigao City, which is still recovering from a quake last month, authorities said.
The 5.9-magnitude quake struck Surigao and surrounding areas, causing some walls to collapse, government seismologists and civil defense officers said.
The quake was felt as far as San Juan and San Francisco in Southern Leyte, and General Luna, Surigao del Norte and Ormoc City.
One 65-year-old woman, Socoro Cenes, a resident of Surigao City, died of a heart attack while at least 29 people were injured, local television reports added.
The new earthquake was just one of over 100 aftershocks to hit Surigao City since a 6.5-magnitude quake on Feb. 10 left eight dead and over 250 injured, mainly due to falling objects.
Its epicenter was outside Surigao City in the same area as the epicenter of last month’s tremor, the government seismology office said.
The Philippines lies on the so-called Ring of Fire, a vast Pacific Ocean region where many of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.
Before the Feb. 10 quake, the last lethal one to hit the country was a 7.1-magnitude tremor that left over 220 people dead and destroyed historic churches when it struck the central islands in October 2013. With AFP