
By Gabriela Baron
No tsunami threat in the country following the 7.4-magnitude earthquake that hit southeast of waters off Loyalty Islands in the Pacific Ocean, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said Saturday, May 20.
The Phivolcs, however, warned that hazardous tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within 300 kilometers (km) of the quake epicenter.
“[There] is no destructive tsunami threat to the Philippines from this earthquake,” the agency said.
The 7.4-magnitude tremor hit southeast of Loyalty Islands Saturday morning at 9:51 a.m.
The United States Geological Survey reported several aftershocks in the region following the quake that had a depth of 45 km. – cf