Baguio jolted by magnitude 4.5 quake
BAGUIO CITY—A magnitude 4.5 earthquake jolted Baguio City and the provinces of Benguet, La Union and Pangasinan at 2:33 p.m. Thursday but no report of casualties or damage reached local authorities.
According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), the quake’s epicenter was plotted 9 kilometers south of Tuba, Benguet. Ground shaking was felt at intensity 5 in Baguio, intensity 4 in La Union and intensity 3 in Pangasinan.
In Baguio, residents and tourists scrambled out of buildings and stayed in open areas until directed by authorities that it was safe to return.
The quake struck a week before the 36th commemoration of the destructive July 16, 1990 Luzon earthquake that flattened Baguio and also caused widespread damage in Dagupan City and Nueva Ecija province.
