Quakes shake Eastern Samar

Two earthquakes – magnitude 5.7 and 5.0 – last Monday evening and early Tuesday morning rattled parts of Eastern Samar and Batangas, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said yesterday. The first tremor occurred 9:29 p.m. Monday, from an area 109 kms. northeast of Mercedes, Eastern Samar, with a “depth of focus” of .40 kms, registering magnitude 5.7 in the Richter scale. It was felt in such parts of Eastern Samar as Mercedes and Guiuan (intensity 4) Llorente, Hernani, and Giporlos (intensity 3); Tacloban City and Sulat (intensity 2); Gandara, Samar and Tolosa, Leyte (intensity 2); and in Surigao City, Mindanao (intensity 1). There was no damage although aftershocks were expected. The second quake, with a magnitude of 5.0, happened 12:09 a.m. Tuesday. It was traced 22 kms. southwest of Nasugbu, Batangas, with a “depth of focus” of 109 kilometers. Both quakes were of tectonic origin. Intensity 3 was felt in Nasugbu; while intensity 2 was felt in Pasay, Manila, and Mandaluyong. (Edd K. Usman)