By LESLIE ANN G. AQUINO
An earthquake measuring magnitude 5.3 on the Richter Scale rattled different parts of the country yesterday, including Metro Manila, several hours after Pope John Paul II died at 3:37 a.m. Manila time or 9:37 p.m., Rome, Italy time at his apartment at the Vatican.
The tremor hit the country at 9 a.m. Its epicenter was located near Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro.
With a subducted slab along the Manila trench as its possible source, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the highest intensity of the earthquake was at three in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro.
Intensity 2 was felt in Manila, Pasay City, Alabang and Sucat, Parañaque City; and Indang, Cavite while in Tagaytay City, it was at Intensity 1.
Phivolcs said although the quake measured magnitude 5.3, they do not expect any aftershocks or damages as a result.
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MANILA (AP) — A moderate earthquake shook Manila and outlying regions on Sunday, but officials reported no injuries or damage.
The epicenter of the magnitude 5.3 earthquake, off Mindoro island south of the capital, was too deep to cause any damage, government seismologist Vilma Hernandez said. It was triggered by movement of the Manila trench, located off the Philippines’ western coast, she said.
Aside from Manila, the quake was also felt in Mindoro’s resort town of Puerto Galera and nearby Cavite province and Tagaytay City, she said.
The Philippines is in the Pacific "Ring of Fire," where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common. A magnitude 7.7 earthquake in 1990 killed nearly 2,000 people on the island of Luzon.
