At least five killed and 70 wounded by 6.6 magnitude quake in southern Philippines 2019

Among the deaths identified are a 66-year-old man

At least five people were killed and some 70 injured by the 6.6 magnitude earthquake that struck Mindanao Island in southern Philippines on Tuesday, in the same area where a 6.4 tremor killed seven deaths and 200 injuries two weeks ago.

Among the deaths identified are a 66-year-old man in Korondal (Cotabateto), from head trauma; a 15-year-old man buried in rubble as he moved to a safer place in Magsaysay, South Davao.

A father with his son in Arakan and a 23-year-old pregnant woman also perished in the city of Tulunan, both locations located in Cotabato, according to the latest updated recount provided by the governor of that province, Emily Lou Mendoza.

The head of the Cotabato disaster management center, Rolly Aquino, confirmed that at least 70 people are being cared for in hospitals and health centres with injuries or hyperventilation problems in several locations in the area, where the tremor was felt strongly 7 , considered "destructive".

The authorities have not yet reported on the damage to homes and infrastructure, although they warned that "significant damage" is expected due to the earthquake, which has had twenty aftershocks, including one that reached a magnitude of 6.1.

Its epicenter was located near Tulunan, the same city where the epicentre of the strong earthquake of October 6.4 of October 16 was located, the Philippine Institute of Vulcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported.

The organism began the quake about 60 kilometers from Davao, Mindanao's largest city and the third largest in the Philippines, where the tremor felt with "very strong" intensity.

Phivolcs circumscribed the underworld of the earthquake 7 kilometers deep, although the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which monitors the world's seismic activity, placed it 15.3 kilometers.

The Philippines sits on the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire," an area that accumulates about 90% of the world's seismic and volcanic activity and is shaken by about 7,000 moderate tremors a year.