MORE than 100 aftershocks were recorded by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), following the magnitude 6.6 earthquake that occurred in Batangas province early Saturday morning.

Intensity 5 was reported in Calapan City and Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro; in Sablayan and Magsaysay, Occidental Mindoro; and in Carmona and Dasmariñas City, Cavite. Intensity 4 was recorded in Quezon City, Marikina City, Manila City, Makati City, Taguig City, Valenzuela City and Pasay City, Metro Manila; in Tagaytay City, Cavite; in Batangas City and Talisay City, Batangas; and in San Mateo, Rizal.

Phivolcs chief Renato Solidum Jr. said Intensity 3 was reported in Pasig City, Metro Manila and in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.

Tectonic in origin, the latest quake took place around 4:48 a.m., according to the Phivolcs official.

With a depth of 123 kilometers, its center was located 23 kilometers southwest of the municipality of Calatagan, also in the province.

Solidum said there was no tsunami threat.

As to the magnitude range, aftershocks were recorded from the lowest 1.6 to highest 5.5, which took nine minutes later after the major quake of 6.6, Phivolcs said.

So far, the magnitude 7.1 quake that happened in the municipality of Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental in Jan. 21, 2021 was the strongest in terms of magnitude this year, Phivolcs added.

The most damaging earthquake this year, Solidum said, happened on Feb. 7, 2021 when a magnitude 6.1 quake took place in the town of Magsaysay, Davao del Sur.

Zero casualties, damages

Meanwhile, no untoward damage to property and no casualties was reported after a 6.6 magnitude earthquake jolted Batangas town at dawn on Saturday, said the Batangas Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (BPDRRMO).

“Wala pang report of untoward incident. Sa ngayon, tuluy-tuloy pa

ang assessment. So, walang report of any casualties. Walang report of any damages. So, wala kaming response (There has been no report of untoward incident. For now, assessment continues. So, there’s no report of any casualties. There’s no report of any damages. So, we haven’t responded),” said BPDRRMO chief Lito Castro in a phone interview.

The Batangas Philippine National Police told The Manila Times that the local police

was continuously conducting inspections to check for any casualties or damage to property.