The 7.6 magnitude quake caused only light-to-moderate shaking in areas nearest the epicenter off Mindanao’s southwestern coast. Light shaking elsewhere in the region.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology told reporters that because it occurred 360 miles below the seabed, the quake was “too deep and the energy that it had generated weakened as it traveled to the surface.”
Institute head Renato Solidum also said the quake was not due to tectonic plate movement but from the sinking of the Moluccas plate.
Dozens of aftershocks from about the same depth were recorded over the remainder of the weekend.