Photo: The Canadian Press Employees of the Department of Human Settlements and Development evacuate their building after an earthquake in Quezon City, Philippines on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. A strong earthquake shook the northern Philippines on Wednesday, causing some damage and forcing people to evacuate buildings in the capital . Officials said there were no immediate casualties. (AP Photo/Gerard Carreon) A strong earthquake shook the northern Philippines on Wednesday, injuring at least one person, damaging buildings and sending many people in the capital running outdoors. The 7-magnitude quake was centered around Abra province in a mountainous area, said Renato Solidum, head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. “The ground shook like I was in a cradle and the lights suddenly went out. We rushed out of the office and I heard screaming and some of my colleagues were in tears,” said Michael Brillantes, a security officer in Abra’s Lagangilang town, near the epicenter. “It was the strongest earthquake I’ve felt and I thought the ground was going to open,” Brillantes told The Associated Press by cellphone. At least one elderly villager suffered a cut on her leg and was treated at a clinic, Brillantes said, adding that several houses and buildings had cracked walls, including some that collapsed. Authorities were checking for damage or landslides in mountain villages on the northern outskirts of Ambra, a rural, landlocked province. The magnitude of the earthquake was downgraded from an initial magnitude of 7.3 after further analysis. The quake was caused by movement on a local fault at a depth of 25 kilometers (15 miles), the institute said, adding that damage and more aftershocks were expected. The US Geological Survey measured the earthquake’s magnitude at 7.0 and a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles). Shallower earthquakes tend to cause more damage. The Philippines lies along the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, an arc of faults around the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquakes occur. It is also hit by about 20 typhoons and tropical storms each year, making it one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. A magnitude 7.7 earthquake killed nearly 2,000 people in the northern Philippines in 1990.
