A 6.6 Earthquake on the Richter scale hit west of Mindanao registering the Moro gulf as its epicenter, 67 miles southwest of Cotabato City according to the US Geological Survey. The powerful earthquake happened at 6:58 pm this evening, October 4, 2009. No damage to life and infrastructure was reported. No Tsunami warning has also been issued. This is the 4th time this week that a major earthquake happened in the Pacific. First Earthquake hit Polynesian countries of American Samoa and Tonga where a Tsunami struck. Second was in Indonesia where thousands of residents were buried in the rubble. Third is in California and the fourth is in Mindanao. All the mentioned countries and state sits on the Pacific ring of fire where major tectonic plates constantly moves resulting to earthquakes. Below is the official summary report of the US Geological survey of today’s Earthquake at the Moro Gulf.

Magnitude:
6.6

Date-Time:
Sunday, October 04, 2009 at 10:58:01 UTC,
Sunday, October 04, 2009 at 06:58:01 PM at epicenter

Location:
6.721°N, 123.480°E

Depth:
630.5 km (391.8 miles)

Region:
MORO GULF, MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES

Distances:
100 km (65 miles) WSW of Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines
125 km (75 miles) S of Pagadian, Mindanao, Philippines
155 km (95 miles) E of Zamboanga, Mindanao, Philippines
915 km (570 miles) SSE of MANILA, Philippines

Location Uncertainty:
horizontal +/- 5.3 km (3.3 miles); depth +/- 7.4 km (4.6 miles)

Parameters:
NST=124, Nph=124, Dmin=235.2 km, Rmss=0.89 sec, Gp= 32°,
M-type=teleseismic moment magnitude (Mw), Version=7

Source:
USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Event ID:
us2009mia8