MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Two powerful offshore earthquakes struck the same region in the southern Philippines hours apart on Friday with the first 7.4 magnitude temblor killing at least six people, setting off landslides and prompting evacuations of coastal areas nearby because of a brief tsunami scare.
The second one had a preliminary 6.9 magnitude and also sparked a local tsunami warning by authorities. It was caused by movement in the same fault line, the Philippine Trench, at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles) off Manay town in Davao Oriental province, Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology chief Teresito Bacolcol said.
“The second one is a separate earthquake, which we call a doublet quake,” Bacolcol told The Associated Press. “Both happened in the same area but have d