Earthquake Strikes Northern Philippine City

A moderately strong earthquake rattled a northern Philippine city on Thursday, prompting the evacuation of office buildings and the temporary closure of schools, officials reported.

The city of Baguio, home to 366,000 residents, experienced a shallow quake at 10:30 am local time (0230 GMT), just ten days after a powerful tremor in central Philippines killed more than 70 people, residents told AFP by telephone.

Employees and patients evacuated office buildings and health facilities as a precaution.

“We’re going to check for damage,” said Ralph Cabuag, a building administrator, as more than 300 employees and patients left the three-storey Baguio City Health Office.

The Philippine government seismology office initially reported the magnitude at 4.8, warning of potential damage, but later revised it to 4.4.

Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong ordered the closure of all elementary and high schools, according to the city’s public information office on Facebook.

Baguio, located atop a mountain range and known as one of the Philippines’ top tourist destinations, has a long history of seismic activity.

• A 7.8-magnitude quake in July 1990 killed approximately 1,600 people in and around the city.
• The Philippines sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an area of frequent seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia across the Pacific basin.

Earthquakes are thus a near-daily occurrence, with smaller tremors often felt across the region.

On the same day, the government updated the death toll from the recent Cebu quake to 74, after reporting two new fatalities in the towns of Medellin and Tabogon on Cebu island.

Disaster officials confirmed the quake destroyed or damaged about 72,000 houses and injured 1,058 people.

The authorities continue to monitor the situation and carry out safety inspections across affected areas, with residents remaining on high alert.