Monday’s quake occurred just before 4 a.m. local time (22 p.m. Local Time on Sunday) at a depth of 30 km, about 72 km northeast of Hinatuan Municipality on the island of Mindanao.

On Sunday and Saturday, the Philippines was also struck by earthquakes. There was an earthquake of magnitude 6.6 on Sunday and a magnitude 7.6 earthquake on Saturday, followed by a short-term threat from the tsunami.

Authorities said at least two people were killed and several injured after Saturday’s earthquake. According to the USGS, it was followed on Sunday by a string of repeated blows with a strength of more than 6 points.

“The quake was short, it lasted about six seconds, but the vibrations were quite strong,” said Allan Luna, an employee in charge of disaster management at the Kagvait municipality, about 35 km from the epicenter of Monday’s quake.

“People panicked that night. But this morning, since they had already experienced a similar earthquake, they calmly left the house and stayed outside for about an hour,” he added.

Sergeant Joseph Lambo of the Hinatuan Police Staff said people were rushing out of their homes again because of sunday night’s earthquake.

“They were engulfed in panic over memories of last night’s earthquake,” Mr Lambo told the AFP news agency.

On Saturday, an earthquake across the Pacific region declared a tsunami threat, and residents of the eastern coast of Mindanao began to flee buildings, evacuate from the hospital and look for higher places.