Magnitude-4.3 quake rocks parts of Mindanao

A magnitude-4.3 earthquake hit sections of southern Mindanao on Thursday morning, with its epicenter traced 290 kilometers southeast of General Santos City. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvocs) said the earthquake was tectonic in origin and had a shallow depth of 57 kilometers. Philvocs is still determining the impact of the tremor. “Hinihintay pa namin ang report ng regional office namin sa General Santos para malaman kung naramdaman ang lindol doon (We are awaiting reports from our regional office in General Santos to know if the quake was felt there)," said seismologist Romy Tabanlar. Tabanlar said the earthquake near the city had nothing to do with the recent twin quakes that jolted parts of Indonesia. On Wednesday, a 7.6-magnitude quake struck western Indonesia, killing at least 200 people. A day later, a 6.9-magnitude quake shook parts of Sumatra Island, some 180 miles from the deadly Wednesday quake in Indonesia. “Wala naman itong kaugnayan doon sa mga iyon [sa Indonesia]. Malayo ito at almost negligible (This earthquake was far away from the earlier ones. This is almost negligible)," Tabanlar said. - Mark D. Merueñas, GMANews.TV