Philippines hit by major earthquake, tremors felt in Manila and nearby provinces

Philippines was hit by an earthquake of magnitude 6.5 on Thursday,the German Research Centre for Geosciences said. The epicenter is reported to be at Mindoro island about 160 km south of the capital Manila.

The earthquake was felt at 10:19 am (local time) or 2:19 am (Greenwich Mean Time).

There was a conflict in the initial seismic reading of the earthquake.

While the German Research Centre for Geosciences said that the earthquake was of 6.5 magnitude, the Philippine seismology agency said that it recorded the earthquake of magnitude 6.2 on the richter scale.

The tremors were also felt in the capitaland in nearby provinces.

The quake was at a depth of 10 kilometres (6.21 miles), German Research Centre for Geosciences said.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) warned that damage and aftershocks are expected, Manila-headquartered Rappler news portal reported.

People took to social media with their immediate reactions following the earthquake.

"Very long and strong earthquake in Manila just now. Made me realize how unprepared and not-emergency-ready I am. I just froze and didn’t know what to do. Driving around Makati now and seeing loads of people who evacuated from their buildings. I’m glad they knew what to do," a user wrote on Twitter.

Another user shared visuals of students at an educational institute being evacuated right before their graduation ceremony.

This is a breaking story. More information will be added soon.

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