A 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck off the southern Philippines on Friday (June 26, 2026), the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said, less than three weeks after a major tremor in the same area left more than 80 people dead.

The quake struck at 7:42 p.m. (11:42 GMT) at a depth of 52.4 kilometres (33 miles) in the waters about 35 kilometres southwest of Mindanao island’s Jose Abad Santos town, according to the USGS, which revised the magnitude from an initial 6.7.

No tsunami alert was issued.

Santa Maria town rescue official Jerson Talahig told AFP there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

“It was kind of strong, but it was quick. We saw the table and some of the lights shaking,” he said.

The 7.8-magnitude tremor that hit Mindanao on June 8 brought down buildings, triggered landslides and displaced thousands on the southern island, while also setting off tsunami warnings across the region.

The powerful quake forced the seabed upwards by two metres (6.6 feet) on a long stretch of the coast, pushing previously submerged coral above the water and extending the shoreline by as much as 200 metres in a geological phenomenon known as “coastal uplift”.

A series of strong aftershocks rocked the area from about two hours after the first quake, including a 6.5 magnitude tremor.

As of Friday (June 26, 2026), the June 8 quake had killed 81 people and injured more than 1,300.

Earthquakes are a near-daily occurrence in the Philippines, which is situated on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

The Cotabato Trench, which lies as close as 50 kilometres (31 miles) off the coast of southern Mindanao, is the site of frequent seismic activity, including a “swarm” of thousands of mostly small earthquakes recorded in January.

At least 22 people killed after strong earthquake in central Philippines damages building. A strong offshore earthquake of magnitude 6.9 shook the central Philippines late on Tuesday (September 30, 2025), damaging stone and concrete buildings, injuring several people with falling debris and sending residents scrambling out of their homes, officials said.

The earthquake was centred about 17 kilometres, northeast of Bogo, a coastal city of about 90,000 people, where the intense shaking damaged concrete walls of houses and a fire station, knocked out power in the city and caused deep cracks on asphalt roads, firefighter Rey Cañete said.

“We were in our barracks to retire for the day when the ground started to shake and we rushed out but stumbled to the ground because of the intense shaking,” Cañete told The Associated Press by telephone, adding that he and three other firemen sustained cuts and bruises.

A concrete wall in their fire station collapsed, Cañete said. He and fellow firefighters provided first-aid to at least three residents, who were injured by falling debris and collapsed walls, including an elderly man with head injuries who they took to a nearby hospital, he said and added that more residents may have likely been injured due to the intense shaking.

Hundreds of terrified residents gathered in the darkness in a grassy field near the fire station and refused to return home hours after the earthquake struck in Bogo in Cebu province. Several business establishments visibly sustained damages and the asphalt and concrete roads where they passed had deep cracks, Cañete said, adding that an old Roman Catholic church in Daanbantayan town near Bogo was also damaged.

Cebu Gov. Pamela Baricuatro said an unspecified number of houses and a hospital were damaged in the hard-hit city of Bogo and elsewhere and that emergency medical teams were being deployed to treat residents who were pinned and injured. The extent of the damage and injuries would not be known until daytime, she said.

“We’re sending already a trauma team there, doctors and nurses are on the way,” Baricuatro told the DZMM radio network. ”We need medicine, food, medical teams.” The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology issued a tsunami warning and advised people to stay away from the coastlines in Cebu and in the nearby provinces of Leyte and Biliran due to possible waves of up to 1 metre .

Teresito Bacolcol, director of the institute, told The AP that the tsunami warning was later lifted with no unusual waves being monitored.

Central Philippine provinces were still recovering from a storm that hit on Friday, leaving at least 27 people dead mostly due to drownings and falling trees, knocking out power in entire cities and towns and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.

The Philippines, one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, is often hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of seismic faults around the ocean. The archipelago is also lashed by about 20 typhoons and storms each year.