A magnitude 6.4 earthquake jolted the northern Philippines, injuring 26 people and damaging houses and public infrastructure, the dpa quoted the government agencies as said Wednesday. The tremor struck at 10:59 pm (1459 GMT) on Tuesday near Lagayan town in Abra province, 348 kilometres north of Manila, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. It had an initial magnitude of 6.7, but was later downgraded to 6.4, the institute said. Power was cut in some affected provinces, while houses and buildings were damaged, according to an initial assessment. Some roads were impassable due to rock slides or cracks, the national disaster agency said. The Philippines is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where about 90% of the world's earthquakes occur. One of the strongest quakes to hit the country was in July 1990, when more than 2,400 people were killed on the northern island of Luzon in a 7.8-magnitude earthquake.
