Mild quakes hits Philippines, no damage

MANILA, May 10: A mild earthquake rattled central Philippines today, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, an official said.

Renato Solidum, Manila's chief seismologist, said power on Leyte island was interrupted after a geothermal plant automatically shut down. A mudslide buried nearly 1,000 people on the island in February.

''We don't expect any damage because the quake was not really strong,'' Solidum told Reuters, adding the 4.2 magnitude tremor was felt at about (0200 GMT).

Earthquakes and other natural disasters occur frequently in the Philippines, which lies on a seismically active stretch of the Pacific basin.

In February, heavy flooding triggered a deadly landslide in southern Leyte, entombing hundreds of people in the remote farming village of Guinsaugon, about 675 km (420 miles) southeast of Manila.

In 1990, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed 1,600 people in the northern island of Luzon.

REUTERS