Another quake rocks Philippines day after twin temblors killed 8

Two powerful offshore earthquakes had struck the same region in the southern Philippines hours apart on Friday.

A day after two massive earthquakes killed at least eight persons in southern Philippines, another quake of 6.0 magnitude struck off the southern coast of the country late on Saturday, the United States Geological Survey said.

Saturday's earthquake struck off the southern coast of Philippines near the Mindanao town. (Reuters)

According to the USGS, the tremor occurred at a depth of 59 kilometres (37 miles), about 10 kilometres from the Cagwait town in the province of Surigao del Sur, news agency AFP reported.

Earlier on Friday, two massive offshore earthquakes struck the same region in the southern Philippines, just hours apart, leaving at least eight people dead.

The first temblor was massive, with a magnitude of 7.4, setting off landslides and forcing residents of coastal areas to evacuate amid a brief tsunami scare.

The second one was of 6.7 magnitude, and it also prompted local authorities to issue a tsunami warning. The second quake was in the same fault line, the Philippine Trench, off Manay town in Davao Oriental province, said Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology chief Teresito Bacolcol.

Cagwait fire Officer Arnel Besinga told AFP that there were no immediate reports of casualties from the cake. "The duration of the quake was not that long, just around 30 seconds, but it was so sudden and so strong. Our pots here in the fire station fell in our kitchen," Besinga said.

Besinga further stated that authorities cannot say anything about the extent of the damage at this point, as it was nighttime already and dark there.

It was also not clear whether this latest quake was an aftershock of the twin temblors that struck off Manay town in Mindanao region on Friday.

Several coastal residents of Mindanao island had slept outdoors, fearful of being crushed to death by the aftershocks of the twin quakes.

The Philippine seismology office said it has recorded more than 800 aftershocks since the first quake struck Mindanao, which is riddled by major faults. It added that these are expected to last for weeks.

According to government data, the series of earthquakes came just days after a magnitude 6.9 temblor killed 75 people and injured over 1,000 in Cebu province in central Philippines.