5.9 magnitude quake off southern Philippines

A 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck at sea off the southern Philippine coast late Friday, though there were no early reports of damage and the local seismology office said it expected none.

The US Geological Survey and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the quake struck at 7:55 pm (1155 GMT), its epicentre about 41 kilometres (25 miles) east of the town of General Luna on Mindanao island.

It had a relatively shallow depth, measured at 24 kilometres by the US agency -- and 19 kilometres by the local quake monitors -- but the latter said in an advisory that it was not expected to have caused damage.

The Philippines is part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from quake-prone Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.