Magnitude 6.1 earthquake strikes southern Philippines

The tremor struck near Dapa municipality in Surigao del Norte province at a depth of around 69km, USGS reported.

Hanoi (VNA) - A 6.1-magnitude earthquake jolted southern Philippines on October 17, the US Geological Survey said, a week after two powerful quakes hit the country.

The tremor struck near Dapa municipality in Surigao del Norte province at a depth of around 69km, USGS reported.

It came a week after two quakes of 7.4- and 6.7-magnitude shook the eastern section of the main Mindanao island, killing at least eight people.

These followed a 6.9-magnitude earthquake days earlier that killed 76 people and destroyed or damaged 72,000 houses in Cebu province in the central Philippines, according to government figures.

The Philippines sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" - an earthquake-prone belt of volcanoes stretching from South America to the Russian Far East. It experiences more than 800 quakes each year./.

VNA

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