MANILA, Philippines (AP) - A strong and shallow earthquake has struck the southern Philippines.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude 6.4 quake that hit Wednesday evening was centered about 5 miles from Columbio in the Mindanao region. It had a depth of only 8 miles. Shallow quakes tend to cause more damage than deeper ones.
There was no immediate word on casualties or damage from the quake.
The Philippines, one of the world's most disaster-prone countries, has frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity because it lies on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a seismically active arc of volcanos and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.
A magnitude 7.7 quake killed nearly 2,000 people in the northern Philippines in 1990.