Five tremors shake Philippines

Five tremors shake Philippines

TACLOBAN, Philippines (Reuter): Five successive earthquakes, the strongest measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale, shook the central Philippines yesterday, causing slight injuries and some damage, government officials said.

The tremors damaged a major bridge and caused the collapse of a concrete wall at a school gymnasium in Borongan, Eastern Samar province, near the quakes' epicenter, they said.

A five-year-old boy was taken to hospital in Tacloban city on neighboring Leyte Island after he was hit by a cabinet which fell during the quake.

Raymundo Punongbayan, chief of the government's volcanology institute said the tremors hit the Philippine trench off Eastern Samar, 590 kilometers southeast of Manila.

"The strongest magnitude we recorded was 6.9. Fortunately, it was deep. It was 82 kilometers deep so we are not expecting a tsunami (tidal wave) hit," he said.