Hundreds of residents of coastal areas south of Manila have fled to higher ground fearing a tsunami after a series of earthquakes on the main Philippine island of Luzon.
Three quakes ranging in magnitude from 5.0 to 5.9 struck Batangas province, about 90 kms south of Manila, about 3pm on Saturday over a period of about 20 minutes, said the US Geological Survey.
"Residents in the coastal villages in two towns have evacuated to safer ground after the earthquakes," Lito Castro, head of the provincial disaster council, told local radio.
"The people were afraid the earthquakes would generate a tsunami."
Renato Solidum, head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, said the event was an "earthquake swarm" in a local fault line but had not been powerful enough to cause a tsunami.
"These swarms are natural occurences and we do not expect a big quake in this area," he said.
Batangas officials said there were no reports of casualties but power was cut off in some areas and cracks had been reported in homes and some commercial buildings.
Landslides were also reported in some towns and a portion of a Catholic church tower had collapsed, they said.
The region has experienced tremors since earlier this week.
