Phivolcs sorry for quake report error

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) admitted its error in reporting about a magnitude 7.5 earthquake close to the shores of Davao Oriental Friday night.

The agency posted on its Facebook page the report about the earthquake that hit 15 kilometers north of Caraga at 8:32 pm. With a depth of 25 km and tectonic in origin, it noted both damage and aftershocks should be expected.

The report was quickly picked up by news entities, but netizens pointed out it was suddenly deleted.

At 9:50 pm, Phivolcs released a statement saying it “has taken down the incorrect earthquake information due to a system error that we have posted earlier.”

Apologizing for the confusion caused by its erroneous report, it also vowed to “take corrective actions to avoid similar incidents in the future.”