A 6.7-magnitude earthquake killed at least six people and injured more than 120 in the southern Philippines late Friday, officials said.
The powerful quake hit roughly 14 kilometers northwest of Surigao City, at about 10:03 p.m. (9:03 a.m. ET), according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. At least 30 aftershocks have rattled the surrounding areas in the hours following the quake, the Institute measured.
Surigao City, is in the Mindanao region of the country and has a population of more than 140,000 people.
A state of calamity has been declared by the mayor of Surigao City, CNN affiliate ABS-CBN reports. The shocks from the quake rippled across 54 “barangays” or barrios.
The earth tremors crumbled a number of buildings, knocked out power and forced the closure of Surigao City domestic airport, officials said.
The Philippines is situated in the so-called Ring of Fire, an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Relief and rescue operations are underway, officials said.
In 2013, a magnitude-7.1 earthquake struck the central Philippines near a town in Bohol province and killed at least 183 people and injured 583 people.