MANILA — No damage and casualties were reported in Davao Occidental, the epicenter of Wednesday's powerful magnitude 7 earthquake that shook parts of Mindanao and eastern Indonesia, the province's disaster chief said Thursday.
The province's island town of Sarangani, which was nearest to the quake's actual epicenter, also reported zero casualties and damage, Davao Occidential Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer Harry Chester Camoro told ABS-CBN TeleRadyo.
"Nagkaroon na po kami ng initial na assessment after the lindol, at nag-report naman po lahat ng mga local DRRM namin, especially sa island municipality namin sa Sarangani, na wala pong damage at saka wala pong casualty, o nasugatan man lang o nasawi po," he said.
At least 23 aftershocks were recorded since the earthquake, the strongest was at magnitude 5.4 that shook at 4:01 p.m. Wednesday.
But Camoro said that earthquakes were normal occurrences in his province, particularly in Sarangani town.
"Marami po [aftershocks]... pero humina hanggang nawala na po. Pero for the information naman po everyone, halos everyday po may pagyanig naman po diyan banda," he said.
He also noted that the actual epicenter was quite far from Sarangani town and was recorded somewhere near the border between the Philippines and Indonesia.
A few hours following the powerful quake, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) assured that there was no tsunami threat anywhere in the country.
The earthquake was more felt in parts of Indonesia, with some residents fleeing their homes due to the strong shaking.