(UPDATE) Earthquake shakes Manila

Workers evacuated office buildings in Manila Tuesday afternoon after a magnitude 4.2 earthquake rattled an undersea area off Pangasinan.

Jane Punongbayan, supervising science research specialist of the Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology, said the epicenter of the quake was 77 kilometers from Lingayen, Pangasinan. She said the quake was felt at Intensity 3 in Ilocos Norte, Intensity 3 in Manila and Intensity 2 in Quezon City.

A radio dzMM report said Malacañang employees evacuated the second and third floors of the palace after the quake struck.

An Agence France Presse report said some office buildings in Manila emptied as people rushed outside when the structures began to sway. The city’s light railway system also stopped briefly, they added.

PHIVOLCS Director Renato Solidum said the agency received reports that the earthquake was felt as far as San Fernando, La Union; Bataan area and parts of Metro Manila.

Punongbayan said the quake is unlikely to cause a tsunami or even stronger aftershocks. “Usually only magnitude 7 earthquakes under the sea can cause a tsunami. This was only magnitude 4.2,” she told radio dzMM.

The Philippine archipelago lies along the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where earthquakes and volcanic activities are common.

First posted at 12:35:51 PM

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Felt it at the 8th Floor in our building. Got shit scared.