More than 200 aftershocks have been recorded.
A landslide and building damage caused by a strong earthquake in the southern Philippines killed four people and injured dozens.
The Office of Civil Defence said on Thursday morning that two people died and 18 were injured in a landslide set off by the quake in Magsaysay town in Davao del Sur province. ABS-CBN television network reported two more deaths elsewhere, including a girl hit by a collapsed house wall.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the 6.3 magnitude earthquake Wednesday night was centered 22 kilometres (14 miles) southeast of Tulunan in North Cotabato province at a relatively shallow depth of 8 kilometres (5 miles). More than 200 aftershocks have been recorded.
The US Geological Survey placed the magnitude at 6.4 quake with a depth of 14 kilometres (9 miles). Shallow quakes tend to cause more damage than deeper ones.
OCD said at least 27 people were injured in the landslide in Magsaysay or from falling objects and collapsed concrete walls.
Some areas lost power, including the transport hub of Kidapawan city. A fire broke out in the Gaisano shopping mall in General Santos city shortly after the quake, but there were no reports of people trapped.
Vice Mayor Joselito Pinol of North Cotabato’s M’lang town said patients were evacuated out of a hospital to ensure their safety during the quake. Several buildings were damaged, including Pinol’s office, where the glass-windowed facade fell.
Schools in quake-hit areas, including the president’s hometown of Davao city, suspended classes on Thursday so buildings can be inspected for damage. President Rodrigo Duterte was in the capital, Manila, when the quake struck.
Leslie Francisco, a local disaster response officer, said a small college in Digos city in Davao del Sur province had extensive damage.
The Philippines is one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, with frequent typhoons, earthquakes and volcanic activity. It lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” the arc of faults around the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s seismic activity occurs.
A magnitude 7.7 quake killed nearly 2,000 people in the northern Philippines in 1990.
