Earthquake jolts Metro Manila on Tuesday night

(Update 2- 8:44 p.m.) A magnitude-5.0 earthquake jolted the central part of Luzon including Metro Manila on Tuesday night, even as state forecasters warned against possible aftershocks. The earthquake took place at 6:54 p.m., Renato Solidum, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), said. According to the USGS Earthquake Hazards website, the earthquake's epicenter was located 50 kilometers west of Manila, in the vicinity of Bataan province, with an estimated depth of 112.4 km below the earth's surface. A magnitude-5 earthquake is classified as a strong earthquake generally felt by most people indoors and some people outdoors, according to the Phivolcs website. "Strong earthquake ito... kaya posible iyang aftershock (It was a strong earthquake so having aftershocks is possible)," Solidum said. However, he added that the earthquake is not expected to cause much damage since the center was deep in the earth's crust. "Ito ay marahil sa pagsuksok ng South China Sea sa Manila Trench (It could have been due to the movement of the South China Sea Plate into the Manila Trench)," Solidum added. Based on Twitter reports, the earthquake was felt in Makati, Quezon City, Taguig, Caloocan, and as far as Los Baños, Laguna. - RJAB, Jr./JV, GMANews.TV